You Have The Right To Remain Silent
by WILLSONN LOVER
Summary: Okay guys, this is different than anything than I have shared with you guys before. This is AU where Sonny and Will meet, and yes as the title suggests, they are both law enforcement officers. This story goes at a little slower pace than you guys are used to from me... It Will Have All the things you guys love, just at a slower pace. Be Patient!
1. Chapter 1

Detective Jackson "Sonny" Kiriakis dropped into the chair at his desk. He looked at the stack of open case files on his desk and sighed. At least there was one in there that he could close. He still had to do the paper work on the case that they had solved in the early morning hours yesterday. He usually isn't a procrastinator, though it is true that he doesn't like paper work… but he was putting off this paper work for two reasons, the first and foremost one was this case involved a child, and it was especially hard for him. The second one being that he knew he could possibly get his ass chewed out for a couple of the decisions that he made in the heat of the moment.

The door to the squad room opened and his partner, Mitch Jensen stuck his head in… "Safe to come in here?" he asked.

Sonny nodded and jerked his thumb toward the Lieutenant's office, "He's in with the Captain, the Chief, and the D.A.

"Ouch!" Jensen said…. "Sorry about that…. but you have to know that you did the right thing."

"Well, we got him anyway…" Sonny said. "That's what matters."

He pulled the file for the case in question out of the pile and opened it. He looked through the crime scene pictures one more time… and resolved that he would do it all over again. This monster deserved to be behind bars for the rest of his life… at the very least, but if Sonny was honest he would just as soon see him get the death penalty. People like Christopher Bennett made him sick, crimes against kids were always the worst possible ones.

A couple more officers piled filtered into the room. They just patted Sonny's shoulder as they walked by. None of them really wanted to be in his shoes…. But they also knew that he was a damn good detective and did not deserve to have his decisions picked apart by someone who wasn't even there.

The door to Lieutenant Williams office opened and Captain Haskins and Chief Morwessell left through the squad room without a word. A few minutes later D.A. Castleberry came out of the office. She looked at Sonny and narrowed her eyes, before she pushed her glasses up on her nose and marched out the door.

Sonny held back the urge to groan… that woman for whatever reason hated him, and he had never been anything but nice to her. He was still pondering the possible reasons when he heard the gruff voice of Lt. Williams. "Kiriakis…. Get in here."

Sonny pushed himself out of his chair and moved toward the office. "Yes Sir?" He said, reaching the door… "Shut the door." Lt Williams ordered.

Sonny closed the door and went to stand in front of the Lt's desk. "Yes Sir?" He said again.

"Take a seat." Lt Williams ordered. "Jackson," he said, "Sometimes in life, and in our jobs we have to do things that aren't right… things that we don't like and we don't agree with." He said.

"Yes, Sir that's right." Sonny said… "I am so glad that you understand that I had to do what was necessary." He said.

"Yes… I do understand what you did, from the perspective of another human being!" Lt Williams said. "But as your boss, and the leader of this squad, I don't understand it at all, and I can not condone it." He said.

"But Sir, we found everything that we needed.." Sonny argued, "And he was going to do the same exact thing to someone else's child… I had to make the call Sir."

"Yes, and between you and me, I know that you saved the life of his next intended victim.… But that does not change the fact that I have to demote you." Lt Williams said softly.

"With all due respect Sir, that's fucking bull shit and you know it." Sonny said, jumping up from his seat.

"Sit Down, Kiriakis!" The Lt barked.

Sonny took the seat again.

"What in the hell do you expect me to do, you disobeyed a direct order… and you executed a search without a warrant." Lt Williams said… "Bennett's sleazy lawyer is threatening to sue the city for wrongful search and seizure and defamation of character."

"That's ludicrous." Sonny said.

"No, what's ludicrous is that he may very well get away with it because of the shit you pulled out there." Lt Williams said. "I don't have to tell you that Haskins and Morwessell are on my ass about this."

"You have to fight this Sir…" Sonny said, "You can't reduce me to a paper pusher at a desk somewhere."

"Do you think that I didn't fight for you?" Lt Williams asked. "You are the best detective that I have on my squad… but it is out of my hands… there is nothing that I can do." "But, I am afraid that it is a little worse than being a paper pusher at a desk somewhere…. You are being demoted to beat cop, and you will be training a new rookie that shows some promise of being a detective…. But he is green… fresh out of the academy."

"You can't be fucking serious right now?" Sonny spat.

"Well… you can always turn the demotion down and take the suspension; it could be 6 weeks or longer, pending the review by the D.A." Lt Williams said. "Or you can take the demotion that is slated to last 12 weeks, but could be shortened, if I can pull it off." "Your choice."

"Fuck!" Sonny swore, "He really could walk?"

"Sorry to say it, but yeah, it is a good possibility." Lt Williams said. "I know how much getting this guy meant to you, and I know that is why your judgment was clouded on this…. But we can not make mistakes like the ones you made, they are too costly."

"What's it gonna be?" He asked, waiting for Sonny to consider his options.

Sonny sat silently in the chair… he was fuming.

"Jackson, it could be worse… you could have been fired, which I may add is what Castleberry was pushing for." "But I saw the memo about this Cadet at the academy that will be joining us on Monday and he is top in his class and has the potential to become a great detective… So I convinced them that we need you… the best detective we have, to train him."

"But beat cop?" Sonny asked.

"Yep, the Chief feels that you should be with him from the beginning." Lt Williams said.

"Fine!" Sonny said, "But that doesn't mean I have to like it."

"Good Decision, son" Lt Williams said, "Now finish the reports and then go home… report to precinct 4 Monday morning at 6 AM." "I will make sure they know what your assignment is."

"Thank you Sir." Sonny said, he got up and shuffled out of the office.

Thankfully the squad room was now empty, so he finished the report as quickly as he could and then dropped it in the Lieutenant's box on his door. He grabbed his jacket and headed home.

"William Robert Horton" his name was called, and he walked across the stage receiving his diploma. He was now an official graduate from the police academy. It felt good, he felt accomplished. He had grown up idolizing his Grandpa Roman, and his Aunt Hope, and John Black, the man who was married to his Grandma Marlena. For a brief time his mom had even been married to a detective and Will has grown very fond of him as well. He had told his Mom from the time that he was old enough to walk and talk that he wanted to be a "cop" like his grandpa, he wanted to catch bad guys like Aunt Hope… She had always laughed and ruffled his hair.

He knew she never took him seriously and that is of course why she fell apart when he told her that he had joined the academy. She went on and on about the dangers of being a cop, blah, blah, blah. He had to reiterate to her on several occasions that he his mind was made up. But apparently so was hers, and the good lord above knew that Sami Brady could be as stubborn as hell when she wanted something. He was in the physical training portion of the program when he had been pulled aside and asked to join the detective part of the program, they offered him a spot on the cyber crimes unit. Which basically ensure that he would spend his days in an office by himself in front of a computer. He had declined the offer, thanking them very much for the interest, but after that day it seemed to him that the physical training were less grueling and the other parts of the training were more intensive.

Will was determined not to let this deter him, he went to the gym and worked out on his own time, he stayed after everyone was gone for the evening to train on the obstacle course. He even signed up for target practice at the nearest shooting range. In the end he was graduating at top of the class in every area.

As he stood there waiting for the rest of the cadets in his class to get their diplomas and certificates of completion he considered the different ways of telling his mother that he wasn't coming home to Salem, not now and maybe not ever!

After the ceremony was over and they were dismissed he went to find his family. To his surprise he saw that every member of his family that he had ever looked up to and even Rafe was there to congratulate him. He sure hoped that there was someone left back home, to keep the order.

They moved their party over to a local restaurant for a nice dinner. When the plates had been cleared away and the wine glasses refilled. Sami stood up, "Will honey we are so proud of you, and of what you have accomplished. Congratulations on graduating today and on being the newest member of the Salem Police Department." She said raising a glass.

Will cleared his throat and stood up. "Thank you all for coming and for supporting me!" he said. "It means soo much, but I have to say no to the job at the Salem Police Department."

"What on earth are you talking about?" Sami asked. "You just went through all of that training for nothing?" she said incredulously.

Will cleared his throat uncomfortably…. "Um No, that isn't exactly what I mean." He said, "Guess there is no time like the present to tell everyone that I will not be moving back to Salem, I have been accepted as an officer with the Chicago PD." He said proudly.

" Will!" Sami said, "You can't mean that!"

"Yes Mom, I can and I do." He said. "And I am excited, to start my new life here."

"EJ, Dad, You have to do something!" Sami screeched.

"There is nothing you can do, there is nothing anyone can do." Will insisted. "They know all about my family and they know that this is what I want."

Sami looked at her dad who shook his head, indicating that she should let this go, at least for now.

Later that night Will hugged them all good bye and assured them for the one hundredth time that he was fine and he was going to be fine. Sami left, but Will could tell that she wasn't happy about it.

Will used the weekend to get things done, to get ready to get to some real police work. He wanted to be a detective but he wanted to get there just like every other detective had gotten there. By hard work and proving that he was good… not because his Grandpa was the Commissioner of police in the small town that he grew up in. He wanted to learn and to prove his worth.

He was excited that he was going to get his chance. He had interviewed with the Chief of police of Chicago, a couple of weeks before he had finished the academy. He wasn't sure that was how it was supposed to be done, but he figured that maybe at least part of that could be attributed to the fact that had graduated at the top of the class… that had to count for something, right? Well that and it probably hadn't hurt that the admissions officer there had imparted to the Chief that Will had been going above and beyond on his own time, to make sure that he got the training he felt he needed, even though his family had strongly suggested that he get more intellectual instruction than anything else. William Horton was a self starter and had the potential to go as far as he wanted to in his career.

Sunday he went to bed early, tossing and turning. He couldn't decide if it was nervousness or excitement….

On Monday morning he woke bright an early, and dressed in his uniform, it was Navy blue and if Will didn't know better he would swear it had been tailored to fit only him. He was at the station by 5:30 am. He went to the office of the chief first and an officer there checked the personnel folder for him and told him that he was to meet his new partner at precinct 4 just down the hall.

He went the short distance down the hall, and reported in to the officer at the desk, who acknowledged him briefly and then instructed him to have a seat. "You are going to be partnered with Jackson Kiriakis… he will be here shortly, have a seat over there and wait for him.

Will sat there for what seemed to be forever, but in reality it was only about 10 minutes. He was studing his fingernails when the door opened and another officer came through the door, dressed in the same uniform he was wearing, looking pissed at the world.

He addressed the officer at the desk. "Gaston, I am expecting a new partner this morning, some asshole straight from the academy, let me know when they get here, will ya?" He said as he continued on toward the coffee pot on the back table.

"Umm Sir.." Gaston said, tilting his head over toward Will… "He's here now sir.."

"Great!" Sonny said, "A fucking suck up!"

To be continued….


	2. Chapter 2

Will stood and walked over to where the other man was standing, he stuck his hand out in an attempt to be friendly. "Hi, I'm Will."

Sonny looked at him. He spent a moment or two sizing him up. "Detective Jackson Kiriakis" He said, ignoring the hand he held out. "Let's go."

He preceded Will out the door, and just expected that he would follow. "I will go ahead and show you where the locker room is so that you can store any personal items or a change of clothes or anything like that in your locker."

"I didn't bring anything personal with me." Will said softly.

Sonny turned a shot him a 'go to hell' look... "Eventually you will need to know where it is... so humor me."

Sonny led him down the hall and pointed into a room, "This is where you go to check your weapon, and pick it up in the mornings." Then he pointed in the opposite direction, across the hall. "That is the room where you will go to get your morning assignments, or for meetings that are called. You will report to that office every morning before you leave the station."

He continued down the hall and Will continued to follow him. "Kiriakis!" Someone one called from behind them.

Will slowed up, expecting the other man to slow down or stop and wait for whoever was calling his name, but he never broke his stride. Will had to scramble to catch back up with him. He finally stopped at a door marked 'Men's Locker Room'.

Sonny opened the door and walked inside. "Have they assigned you one yet?"

Will nodded and slipped the paper from his pocket, holding it up.

"Well find it and, you may want to put your personal keys and phone or anything like that in there, those kinds of things tend to get lost if you are ever in a tussle." Sonny said, "Meet me in the squad room, after you are done here and have collected your weapon."

**SONNY'S POV **

He walked back to the squad room, feeling out of sorts. He just wasn't sure why, other than the fact that he was not happy to be here this morning.

Usually he loved his job, but not today, not tomorrow, not next week... not until he was back where he belonged. He was still pissed that they had done this to him. In his opinion it was stupid to have him wasting his time with a rookie. Didn't they realize that they had screwed themselves and the whole department? All of his open case files were just going to sit there and wait until he got back to what he was supposed to be doing.

Yes... he made mistakes... maybe he should have waited for that search warrant to come through, but he had saved a little girls life... did anyone stop to consider that before banishing him back to his own personal hell. It had been all he could do to get through the six months that he had been a beat cop, waiting for a spot in the Special Victims Unit to open up.

He had just about worked himself into a full on rage. He was mad at everyone and everything. He was angry at the Chief for not realizing his worth, angry with the captain for not fighting for him, angry at that the D.A. Ms. Castleberry...that bitch hated him for no reason, he had no idea what the fuck her problem was. Most of all he was angry that the justice system was going to let a bastard like Christopher Bennett walk on a technicality. He went over and poured himself a cup of coffee, taking a couple of deep breaths, trying to calm down.

Sgt. Larson, walked into the room. "Hey man, sorry to hear about what happened." he said shaking his head. "It's a damn shame." Sonny knew him from his own rookie days. After more than 20 years on the force as a street cop, behind the wheel of a patrol car. He was now a Warrant Desk Sergeant. Sonny could never understand it, but he always seemed to like his job and he almost always had a smile on his face. He probably would still be on the streets right now, if he hadn't took a bullet in the hip while responding to a domestic disturbance last year.

"Thanks" Sonny mumbled. He walked over and picked up the assignment folders for the day. He flipped through them until he found one that looked like it would keep them busy, the last damn thing he wanted to do was spend the day exchanging small talk with the little fucker that was still green, still wet behind the ears...

"Whew! Look at them dress blues!" Mitch Jensen called from the door laughing, "What the fuck Man?"

Sonny flipped him the bird... "Shut the hell up." he growled.

"Seriously man, you got a meeting or something this morning?" he Ex-partner asked.

"Go fuck yourself." Sonny responded.

"What the hell is eating you?" He asked...

"This is my punishment, dickwad... you know for fucking up the case..." Sonny said "I get to babysit some new cadet, fresh out of the academy!"

"Shit!" he said, "That sucks!"

"Tell me about it!" Sonny agreed.

"Well... I guess it could be worse... you are kinda lucky you didn't get canned."

"Oh Yeah! Lucky me huh!" Sonny said sarcastically.

"Try not to stress it, man, it will be over before you know it."

Sonny looked at the time... 8:15am already...

"Fuck." he swore, we are already supposed to be on the damn road.

"Later!" He said pushing past Jensen, he walked out into the hall, intent on putting this rookie on notice real quick.

He was stopped in his tracks when he saw the younger man in the hall with Chief Morwessell. The chief was going on and on about how lucky they were that he chose Chicago P.D.

"Just fucking great" Sonny mumbled under his breath, before approaching them.

"Kiriakis." The chief addressed him when they joined him. "You made a good choice, you are certainly more good to us here...no use in you sulking at home." "Make sure you teach this man everything you know."

"Thank you sir." Sonny said stiffly. He looked at the younger man, reading the brass name plate pinned to his uniform. W. Horton.

Well he damn well wasn't going to address him by his first name like they were friends, they weren't and odds were they were never going to be.

"Horton.. we need to get on the road... We're already late." he said

**WILL POV **

"Oh, okay" Will answered, wondering what he had done already to piss this man off.

"Thank you Chief." he said, to the older man.

"Don't mention it," the chief said holding up his hand. "If you need anything at all, just come and see me."

"Thanks." he said

Detective Kiriakis had turned and stalked off, and once again Will was scrambling to catch up to him.

He followed him into the elevator and watched as he punched the button for the ground level parking. Once they emerged from the elevator, Sonny pressed the unlock button on the keyless entry and they walked over to the patrol car that would belong to them for the next twelve weeks.

Sonny cranked the car and pulled out of the garage into the street. He headed toward the east end of town. Will just sat back and watched as the streets rolled by. He had not been living in Chicago long. Just long enough really to get through the academy. And definitely long enough to realized that they were headed toward the part of the city that had the highest crime rate.

The only sound in the car was the constant stream of chatter that was coming from the police dispatch... Will hated to admit that he was uncomfortable and kind of nervous. He would feel better if he didn't feel like he had already made an enemy.

"So," He said casually "Is it normal for a newbie to pull the most dangerous part of the city on their first patrol."

"Nope..." Sonny said. "Guess you're just lucky."

"Hmm" Will said...

That was the extent of the first conversation. Silence reigned supreme in the car for another half hour. He decided to give it one more try.

"You don't seem to like me much." Will said, trying again.

"You're smart too." Sonny commented back.

"Can I ask why?" Will asked quietly.

There was a crackle over the radio. "_GSV,_ _Possible gang related, East 2nd Ave and Oak St... Victim is a male, teen... Any unit close enough to respond?" _

"You can pick up that radio and respond Unit 7 ETA 2 minutes" Sonny said as he flipped on the lights and did a u turn in the middle of the highway.

Will did as he was asked...

The rest of the day progressed in a fast paced blur. There was a stabbing, another shooting, a domestic dispute, they had several traffic stops, and even one with the involvement of drugs.

By the time their shift was over he was damn glad to get back to the station. And his partner not liking him was the least of his concerns.

Will gathered his keys from his locker, along with his phone. He looked at the screen, 12 missed calls… each and every one from his mother.

Will shook his head. He knew that she must be terrified, knowing that it was his first day on the job. He sent her a quick text, saying he was fine… dead tired but alright and that he would talk to her later.. adding on hugs and kisses for his siblings.

He made it to the parking garage and was about to get into his car when he saw Detective Kiriakis, talking to a couple of men in regular clothing… They all seemed to know each other and Will figured that they must be from the other unit that he worked with. He contemplated going over and saying hi, but then he remembered that his partner didn't care much for him, and decided against it. He slid behind the wheel of his own car and headed home.

Once inside the door of his apartment, he picked up the phone and ordered a pizza from the place down the street and then peeled off his button down, leaving his undershirt in place. He laid his head back on the back of the couch, closing his eyes.

The day had been long and grueling, that had been way more than he expected to deal with on his first day. He laughed out loud when he thought about what his first day on the Salem P.D. would have been. There was Mrs. Simmons cat that liked to climb the tree in the park, and no doubt the biggest mystery in town would have been the disappearance of Ciara's doll. There may even be some littering in the park.

He had to wonder if he wasn't a little crazy. Gangs, shootings, rapes, murders… were all things that he was going to see, maybe on a weekly basis. Well that was the reason he became a cop, right… not to find lost dolls, or rescue cats from trees.. For whatever reason though, his partner didn't seem to like him one bit, and Will wouldn't be surprised to find out that he recommended him for parking meter monitor.

He wondered, maybe for the 100th time why Detective Kiriakis…. What had he said his first name was? Jackson right…. Well he wondered why exactly Jackson didn't like him.. Sure was a shame…. He thought, He had eyes that looked like molten chocolate… He had a few instances today where he had to remind himself to follow directions…. To pay attention, when what he really wanted to do was just loose himself in those eyes.

Will groaned…. Why did he always get crushes on the wrong people. "Jackson" was seriously hot! But he was his partner at work, He was not interested and he was an asshole. All of which were very good reasons, that he should not be thinking about running his fingers through his luxurious hair. He wondered how long it took him to arrange that, 'I have just been fucked' hair… Surely it took some time. He himself only got up and showered then took some bed head and rubbed it in the top of his hair before walking out the door…. But yeah there is no way that works for Jackson….

After the pizza had arrived and he had scarfed down a couple of slices, Will jumped in the shower and then climbed into bed. He turned on the Television, but truth be known he was out before he even watched the first commercial.

To be continued…..


	3. Chapter 3

WILL POV

"Hard to believe it's been two weeks already." Will commented, as they were pulling into the parking garage at the station. He had been steadily trying to get 'Detective Kiriakis' to talk to him.. but so far, he had not had any results. He was by the book and straight laced... The one time that he had accidentally called him "Jackson", as he had come to think of him when he was at home daydreaming, He looked at him like he had lost his mind. Since then he had made a conscious effort not to make that mistake anymore.

The other man barely grunted in response and Will sighed... he should probably give up. He climbed out of the car once they were parked and headed into the building without another word. He was walking down the hall toward the locker room intent on going home and figuring out what to do with his weekend. He was passing by the meeting rooms when he heard a spirited discussion floating into the hall. Will stopped and leaned against the door frame, listening to them argue back and forth. There was some sort of an evidence board pinned on the far wall.. Will studied all of the pictures pinned to the wall. A few minutes later, he heard "Jackson" coming up the hall, talking on the phone... "Yeah, I am coming up the hall... almost there..." he said into the phone.

Sonny brushed by him into the room, and closed the door, basically forcing Will out of the room. He shrugged and turned to go own down the hall. He grabbed his belongings, and went to his car. There was something about those pictures, pictures of the possible potential future victims and the more unfortunate ones that were already victims... something wasn't right. It was nagging at his mind. He shook his head trying to clear the thoughts away, it wasn't as if they wanted his help anyway.

SONNY POV

He was walking into the building after the 10th day of patrols with his 'new partner' his mind was a swirl of confusion. He knew that he was being a total dick to him, and this guy hadn't been anything but nice to him... but damnit it he was sick of being in that patrol car.. he was sick of being on the streets. His phone rang, dragging him out of his internal thoughts... when he looked down and saw Jensen's number, he had a sinking feeling in the bottom of his stomach. He had been dreading this call all week, but he had known it was coming.

"Kiriakis" he said, pausing to listen to his partner... "Yeah, I am on my way.." he answered immediately. "I am coming up the hall... almost there." he said.

When he got to the door, it annoyed the hell out of him to see 'Horton' leaning against the door. He just brushed past him and closed the door in his face... This Rookie had a lot of nerve, he should not have been standing there eavesdropping on a conversation about an open case that had nothing to do with him.

He went further into the room and dropped into a chair, studying the photographs that he had almost committed to memory, he had looked at them soo much. Jensen came and sat in the chair beside him. The room grew quiet. The sinking feeling in the bottom of his stomach continued to grow.

"Sorry man," Jensen said, "But Christopher Bennett was released today."

"Fuck!" Sonny said jumping from his chair...

"Yeah, I know." Jensen said... "That bitch Castleberry said that without the evidence that we pulled from the home... they have no case."

"Son of a Bitch!" Sonny ranted... he shoved his hand through his hair. If another little girl was hurt, beaten, burned, tortured by this maniac, there was no getting around the fact that it was going to be his fault... and his fault alone. He was the one that thought he was doing so much good, by disregarding the time that it would have taken to just fucking wait for the search warrant.

"I have to go home..." he said turning to leave the room. He had barely gotten the door opened when, Jensen was on one side of him and Marcus Williams was on the other side... "Oh no you don't" they said in unison. "Let's go have a beer."

Sonny, Jensen, and Williams walked into the bar... Kelly's was a local dive that the most of the cops that worked this area, and even some lawyers frequented. They grabbed a table in the back and ordered a pitcher of beer.

The waitress came and brought the glasses and the first pitcher. "Keep em coming..." Jensen said handing her his credit card. He realized that his old partner was taking sole responsibility for this mess... and it wasn't totally all his fault. The rest of them had wanted to get Bennett just as bad, and they just hadn't exercised good judgment.

He knew that Sonny was going to take it all upon himself, and he could not let that happen. He also realized that no amount of talking was going to make the guy feel any better, but the beer sure could make him forget for a while.

Sonny kept trying to talk about the case, the last toddler, Dakota, the one that they had found the night before they had busted in that assholes apartment. They felt sure that he had some sort of evidence in there that he was the sick bastard that was preying on those kids. And they had been right, there had been evidence.

"Sonny!" Williams said, trying to distract him... "Tell us about that hot little partner of yours!"

"What?" Sonny said. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Come on..." Williams groaned.."Don't tell me you haven't noticed how fine he is."

"He's okay, I guess." Sonny said.

"Is he single?" Williams asked..

"How the fuck would I know?" Sonny asked..

"DUH! You spend 12 hours a day in a car with him." Williams shot back.

"Sonny is oblivious..." Jensen added.

"Am not..." Sonny answered back.

The waitress appeared bringing the fifth pitcher of beer. Marcus filled his and Jensen's glassed half way, then filled Sonny's to the brim.

"I think you should ask him out." he pushed Sonny...

Sonny spit beer across the table. "What the hell man, I don't even want to talk to him... why would I ask him out?"

Williams giggled... Must I explain this to you... "You like guys... He is hot... you are single... you NEED to get laid..." he said ticking the reasons off on his fingers... "What more is there?"

"There's the part where he is my partner… and we have to work together… and then there is also the part that I don't like him… Not like that… not at all." Sonny said.

"Come on…" Williams said, "Sonny you are killing me." He groaned. "You don't always have to like them, ya know."

Sonny laughed at that… "I do…"

"Jensen!" Williams said, "Help a brother out, tell Romeo here that it doesn't always have to be about wine and roses."

Jensen laughed… "Since when is it ever about wine and roses for you?"

"Yeah! What he said!" Sonny chimed in giggling. He was getting giddy… and he recognized that as a sign that he needed to head home before he does something stupid.

"Where's Melody tonight?" Williams was asking Jensen.

"She's working the night shift this month at the hospital." Jensen answered him. "So she is probably asleep right about now."

"So there is no need to rush?" he asked.

"Not at all…" Jensen said, "What do you have in mind?"

"Couple of games of darts?' He said indicating the dart board hanging on the wall in the back of the bar…

Three hours later, they all piled out of the car and shuffled into the apartment building where Sonny had lived for the last 3 years. Between Jensen and Williams they managed to get Sonny up the stairs and to his apartment. Williams took his keys and opened the door.

Sonny went straight to his bedroom, and flopped on his bed. He passed out with his clothes and shoes still on.

Williams and Jensen ordered some deli sandwiches from the deli just down the street and settled in to watch TV. They didn't want Sonny to be alone when he woke up. They just needed to find a new lead… get some new information on the case…. Something…. Anything… He needed something new for him to concentrate on.

WILL'S POV

He had thought about going home for the weekend to see his mom and his siblings… but he really didn't feel like dealing with all of the begging and pleading that he knew would accompany that trip. And there was something about those pictures that were on that evidence board the other day that was bothering him. He couldn't put his finger on it… It wasn't a glaring difference… not an obvious discrepancy but there was something.

He had spent lots and lots of time alone in his early teenage years, he had used his time, putting puzzles together, doing puzzles books.. all the things that people his age considered to be boring and nerdy. He wasn't a nerd but, he hadn't been interested in girls, and during that time he had been scared to admit to himself that he was really into guys… never mind admitting it to family members. So with all of that going on…. he really didn't have a lot of friends. Spending all of that time working those puzzles, had helped to train his mind for this moment, and now that training was getting a work out… he just needed to get a closer look.

It was Sunday and he didn't figure there would be a whole lot of them down at the station. Will got to the station and parked in the garage. He walked in, noticing as he looked around that he was right and it wasn't nearly as busy in the station on the weekends, at least not this part of the stations. He figured the detectives that were on duty over the weekend were either out chasing leads or pulling double duty and helping out the uniformed officers on the streets.

He wandered down the hall until he came to the conference room where the photos had been hanging yesterday. He turned the knob and to his surprise the door opened and he was able to walk in. He flipped the light switch on and moved forward toward the wall, the one that was covered with the sickening images. He stood there quietly, hands in his pockets. His mind was working overtime to find the common denominator in the grotesque photos.

Twenty minutes later he was still standing in the same position. Someone cleared their throat behind him causing him to jump. "Officer Horton.. Are you supposed to be in here?"

Will recognized the voice of the captain before he ever turned around. He turned slowly to find the man standing in the door. "Hey Captain, what brings you to the office on a Sunday?" he asked.

"I could ask you the same thing." Captain Haskins said.

"I just came by to pick up something from my locker." Will lied. "I saw the pictures hanging on this wall the other day... "There's a connection here, But I can't see it yet."

"We are going to need some help with this one.. to figure out the details that we can't work out." "I asked the FBI to send one of their profilers over to give us a helping hand with the case." Captain Haskins said. "That's actually why I am here, I am meeting him and the investigators in about 10 minutes." "Detective Jensen, the lead on the case for the moment should be here any minute."

"Already here." Jensen said from the door.

Captain Haskins turned to him. "Good." He said, "You know Officer Horton right?" he said nodding in Will's direction.

Will's eyes were drawn to the door as "Jackson" and another man came through the door. "Williams" Captain Haskins said, acknowledging the man that Will didn't know by name... "Kiriakis... I don't remember issuing an invitation to you for this meeting." he said.

"Uh, I was with Detective Kiriakis when I got the call." Jensen said, "Besides he deserves to be here... this is his case."

"Detective Kiriakis is assigned to another department as a part of a departmental reprimand, Do I need to remind you of that?" Captain Haskins barked at him.

Will was surprised when the other man did not back down. "Come on Capt... we need him on this case and you know it... He knows every single detail, better than all the rest of us combined."

"Captain, I know, I fucked this up..." Jackson said, "But please I NEED to be on this case, I need to help catch this guy."

The Captain sighed, relenting and moved aside to let them all into the room. They took various seats around the table.

Will was gauging how he was going to get out of the room without calling a lot of attention to himself when the door opened again and a tall, slender man in a black suit walked in.

Captain Haskins turned to greet him. "Stephen, thanks for coming, I asked them to send their best."

They shook hands and then Captain Haskins introduced the other detectives in the room, before he addressed them all.

"This is Agent Stephen Threadgill from the FBI Field office, he is going to be here helping us to gather more information on our suspect, and try to help us establish his patterns."

Captain Haskins moved to the back of the room, and took a seat, giving Agent Threadgill the floor. He waved Will over to join him.

SONNY'S POV

Agent Threadgill stood in front of them going over the time line that they had established long ago. Then he moved on to the pictures. When he finally stopped talking and stepped out of the room to take a phone call, Williams leaned over to Sonny... "So what is Officer McHottie doing here?" He asked smirking.

Sonny just shrugged.

"He's your partner.." Williams said.

"I'm not his keeper." Sonny hissed back, but inside he was fuming... he had basically had to fight to get into this meeting and some fucking rookie, right off the street was in here with no problem. It really pissed him off, and made him dislike his new partner even more. He wondered what it would take to get him assigned to someone else.

When Agent Threadgill came back into the room, he addressed Jensen. "I am going to need a copy of the entire case file, so that I can get familiar with the details and then once I have done that I will need someone to accompany me to the crime scenes."

"Yes Sir" Jensen said, taking the files and disappearing from the room to have the necessary copies made.

Agent Threadgill shook hands with "Jackson" and Williams again and then walked over to Captain Haskins. "You have an office that I can use while I am here Pete?" He asked.

"Yes we have an empty office, Come on I will show you to it." He said.

Agent Threadgill stuck out a hand to Will, "I don't think we were introduced." He said. "Oh" Will said, automatically shaking the other mans' hand. "Will Horton, Sir." he said.

"Horton here is the newest addition to the Chicago P.D. just out of the academy." Captain Haskins said "He graduated top of his class."

"Congratulations!" Agent Threadgill said... "Horton did you say?"

"Yes Sir." Will said.

"Well why law enforcement Horton?" Agent Threadgill said. "I always like to know what gives people the desire for this kind of work."

"Half of my family is in law enforcement sir, but my Grandfather Roman is the main reason that I chose to go to the academy." Will answered

"Where did you say you are from?" Agent Threadgill asked.

"I didn't say." Will said, "But I am from a small-ish town called Salem."

"Roman Brady?" Agent Threadgill said, "The police commissioner in Salem... Is he your grandfather?"

"Yes!" Will said. "Do you know him?"

"Absolutely, we worked a few cases together a few years ago." Agent Threadgill said. "I am happy you decided to follow in his footsteps, he is a damn fine detective." "Well, I hope I see you around a lot while I am here." He said clapping Will on the back before following Captain Haskins out of the room.

Sonny watched the whole exchange... And for once it all made sense, All of the brass in the office, tripping to make sure the new rookie was taken care of, demoting him and making him babysit the bastard, bringing him in on high profile case meetings. He had to get out of this room before he exploded.

He brushed past Williams, and nearly made it out of the door, but Horton stepped toward the door as well and they bumped into one another. "Sorry." Will mumbled.

"Fuck off..." Sonny replied... going on out the door.

Will's POV

Will sighed... Williams walked up and put a hand on his shoulder, "Don't take it personal. He has had a rough few weeks."

"He hates me." Will said simply. "And I don't even know why."

"He doesn't hate you." Williams said, "He just doesn't know it yet, give him some time." he said. "It will take him a while to warm up to you, in the mean time just don't expect him to make smores and sing Kum Ba Yah" he said smiling. "See you around"

Will watched the other man walk out the door and wondered if Jackson would ever warm up to him.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: First I want to say thank you to everyone who is reading and reviewing this story.. It means soo much to me. I know this is very different that anything you have read from me, so I appreciate you staying with me. I promise you all that you won't be disappointed. There is much more to come and this story will have EVERYTHING you all have come to expect from my stories. Tonya :-)**

They were on the East side of the city, this part of town seemed to be where Detective Kiriakis wanted to be. The morning had already been filled with more crime than Salem sees in 10 years, they had been to the hospital to take a statement from a teenager that had been beaten by members of a gang and left for dead in an alley first thing this morning. Then they had been to a hostage situation involving a drug dealer, and a family member of one of his distributers, who apparently just wasn't selling his product fast enough. Then they had interviewed a woman who lived next door to a house where a man has beat his wife to death when he caught her cheating with another man…

If Will was honest this city was wearing him thin. He didn't know how people did this for years and years. He had known that it was going to be hard to do in a big city, but he honestly thought he could hold out until he became a detective, now he wasn't so sure.

SONNY'S POV

He drove around the East side of the city, he was trying to keep an eye out for Bennett while he was patrolling, but damn it he was tired. He had forgotten how fast paced it was over here on this side. The old joke about cops eating donuts and drinking coffee was certainly lost on this side. They were lucky to have time to go to take a piss between calls, but that was good for two reasons. One he barely had time to say anything to Horton, other than the necessary. And the second he didn't have time to think about Will.

Ever since Williams had called him Officer McHottie…. He had been having unbidden thoughts about Will… that was his name right.. And that was the last thing in the world that he needed.

There was no way that he was attracted to his partner, the thought was just ridiculous. He scoffed at the idea as he pulled into the parking lot at the pawn shop they had just gotten a call from. Someone was trying to pawn some stolen guns and they were going to pick them up and write out a report. They climbed out of the car… and were about to head into the door.. "Horton…you handle this one." he said to Will… He was going to sit back and relax for two seconds… surely he could handle this little thing right…

"Okay!" Will answered him… they walked in the door. Sonny let him go in first. He watched as he walked into the door, and walked to the counter.. he asked the clerk behind the counter to speak to the owner. She flushed and nodded, disappearing through a doorway into the back. Will leaned further over the counter looking at something in the display case. Sonny felt a lump form in his throat, the material of his partner's pants was stretched taut across his ass. He felt the urge to groan and turned away. What the fuck was wrong with him.

The owner appeared from the small room in the back and asked them into his office. He followed behind Horton, letting him take the lead. Once in the office he sat down and watched as Horton did all of the necessary paper work and took possession of the firearms in question. This was the end of the day for them and they were going to be headed back to the station.

He had to admit that Horton was a good officer, there was not one time in the last two and a half weeks that he had backed down from a challenge, he had not faltered in any scenario they had been in. Damn it…. He did not want to like this guy….

Once they were safely back on the street, Sonny headed in the direction of the station. He was wrapped up in his own thoughts, when a call came over the radio…. "Possible Aggravated Assault in progress… Main St, closest cross St.. McKenzie St. Any unit in the area?" Sonny slowed down but did not stop…. There was no answer on the radio…. Dispatch began again…. "Possible Aggravated Assault in progress… Main St…"

How far are we Will asked, picking up the radio..

"Ten minutes tops.." he answered…

Will nodded and picked up the radio, "Dispatch this is unit 7, ETA is 10 minutes."

"10-4, unit 7…" Dispatch replied.

Sonny had already made the turn, he was speeding toward the scene, but had opted to proceed without lights or sirens. When they were pulling onto McKenzie… Sonny addressed his partner… "This is probably gang related…. Sometimes they have new members fight it out to be initiated into the gang, the one who is left standing at the end is the newest member of the gang,,, the other most often is the latest John Doe at the morgue. Most of the time they are alone… but watch your back." The other man nodded his understanding, His hand already on the door handle ready to bound out of the car as soon as they were stopped.

Sonny screeched to a stop, He noticed that Horton's door was opened and the other man had shot out of the car the moment the wheels stopped. The two males scuffling on the street were oblivious to their arrival. They were focused on only one thing, winning. It seemed as if he was watching in slow motion as Will ran over, making a hasty decision, jumping one of the guys from behind. It could not have been more than a few seconds, because he was out of the car too and scurrying over to help. The second man, took advantage of the situation, one of the officers was scuffling with his adversary and the second officer seemed to be focused on the first one. They were practically ignoring him, so he took off. Sonny watched Will for several minutes and it looked like he had it under control, so he just stood back watching intently to make sure he wasn't going to need any help. All while doing his best to convince himself that his racing heart was all because of the adrenaline that was pumping through his system, and not at all because his partner was rolling around on the ground looking extremely hot while in danger. Somewhere in that last thought he kind of got lost in the moment.

WILL'S POV

The two men on the street were circling one another, they each had a knife in hand and were jostling for the best position. He was able to get behind one of them before either of them knew what was happening, tackling the guy to the ground. He just threw himself into getting the guy onto the ground and wrestling the knife away from him, trusting his partner to have his back.

They wrestled around on the ground for several minutes, until Will finally pinned him to the ground. He managed to maneuver his knee to the middle of his back. Will pulled his hands behind his back. Snapping the cuffs into place he started to recite the Miranda warning. "You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford an attorney one will be appointed for you." Will got up and pulled the man to his feet. "Do you understand these rights?" he asked, escorting the man to the patrol car. He opened the back door and placed him in the car. Once the door was closed he turned brushing himself off, "What the hell was that?" he asked turning to look at his partner. 'Jackson' was standing there hands in his pockets. "Just watching the show.." he said "I would have jumped in, if you had needed help."

"Let's go.." He said waving toward the patrol car. "We need to get him downtown."

'Jackson' made a move toward the car and thats when Will saw the younger kid running toward him, something silver flashed in the sunlight. Will rushed toward 'Jackson', shoving him to the side at the last second. Groaning as the blade sliced through the soft skin on his side. Will lunged forward knocking the young boy off of his feet, before he fell to the ground. Meanwhile 'Jackson' must have realized what was happening. He jerked the boy up and slapped the cuffs on him, "What the hell was that?" He said shoving him to the side walk.

Will was shocked when Sonny turned hard accusing eyes on him. "Answer me, Damn it… What the hell was that?" Will shook his head. He could feel the warm sticky liquid oozing down his side. He pressed his fingers a little tighter over the wound. He hoped he didn't need stitches, the mere thought of a needle gave him the creeps, but at the very least he was going to need a bandage and maybe a drink or ten. It was starting to sting.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" he said. "I was trying to help you.."

"Do I fucking look like I need your help?" 'Jackson' yelled at him. "I could have dealt with that kid."

"Well forgive me for trying to keep you from being stabbed in the back… " Will yelled back. "And for the record…. you're a fucking asshole."

"Shut the fuck up." 'Jackson' said, reaching out to give him a hand up.

Will reached out with the hand that held his stomach, and 'Jackson' visibly paled in front of him. "Oh my God, you're hurt." Will looked at his own hand surprised to see that it was practically covered in his blood. "It's just a scratch." He said trying to roll up off of the sidewalk.

"Stay right there." 'Jackson' said, immediately pulling his radio off of his holster, "This is unit 7, I have an officer down, we are going to need backup and a paramedic ASAP." He said into the radio.

"10-4" Dispatch called back. Will heard the repeat request back over the radio before she came back on, "Unit 7, Unit 2 is on the way for back up, ETA on paramedic is approximately 6 minutes."

"10-4" 'Jackson' called back over radio.

"Let me look at that." He said indicating the rip in his uniform shirt. But Will pushed his hands away and covered it again with his own hand. God knows he had enough fantasies running through his head on a daily basis without knowing for sure what having 'Jackson' touching him was really like.

"Fine." 'Jackson' said. He ran his hand through his hair. "Where the fuck is that ambulance?" he growled.

Will chuckled, "It's only been 2 minutes, besides listen…." He commanded. "I hear the sirens."

Ten minutes later, the paramedics had pulled up and they were trying to load Will onto the stretcher…. But he was having no part of it. "It's a scratch.." he insisted. "I don't want to go to the hospital for a scratch."

"Officer Horton you are going to have to let us look at that." The paramedic said, unbuttoning the first button of his shirt.

"I've got it." Will said sighing.

SONNY POV

Sonny watched as the paramedic and his partner argued. He pushed Will down and Will sat back up, until finally the paramedic seemed to give up, and let him sit on the edge of the stretcher.

Will sighed at something he said and shoved the man's hands away when he started to unbutton Will's shirt. Then he lifted his hands and started to unbutton his own shirt. Sonny's gaze was riveted to him as the buttons were loosened from their holes. When all of the buttons were free and Will rolled his shoulders, shrugging the shirt off, it slid from his shoulders. The paramedic took some cloth and wiped the blood from his stomach. He touched his shoulder and pushed him back onto the stretcher. "Officer Horton, please lay back and let me take a good look at this."

"I wanna take a good look at that too." The completely unbidden thought popped into his mind, causing Sonny to choke on his own saliva. He knew that he should not be thinking like that, but Jesus Christ that man was hot… He had known it all along, but had refused to let himself acknowledge it. Somehow that door had creaked open, and when that shirt had come off, it had been blown wide open… hell he didn't even think there were any hinges left on that door.

"Officer… excuse me… are you hurt?" the other paramedic asked him. "What?" Sonny asked, turning to look at him. "Sorry officer, I was just asking if you were hurt." The paramedic repeated.

"It's detective, and No I'm not hurt." He said, turning back to where his partner was laying on the stretcher. He made himself walk over there. "What's the verdict?" He asked looking down, realizing his mistake.

If Will was a vision from a distance, he was fucking perfection up close. He swallowed the lump in his throat. "You going to make it rookie?" he asked.

Will shrugged his shoulder, and the delicious way that his body moved, literally had Sonny's mouth watering. "He will be fine. It's a minor flesh wound, he refused the ride to the ER." The paramedic said. "So I am closing it up with some butterfly closures, but I do strongly recommend he go and see a doctor to see if the Doc wants to give him some stitches."

"I will make sure he goes." Sonny said.

The paramedic finished up with a bandage and moved to the side, letting Will off the stretcher. He clamored off and pulled his bloodied uniform shirt back on.

"Come on, let me get you back to the station so you can shower, and we can get you to see the doc.." Sonny said helping him into the car.


	5. Chapter 5

"Will, you are going to the Doctor and that's final." 'Jackson' said. "I don't want to hear anymore complaining."

Whoa, when had he become 'Will.' He thought, He hadn't even been sure that 'Jackson' knew his name. Sure he had told him on the first day and then several times throughout that first week, not that it had done one bit of good.

Jackson pushed him toward the locker room, "Get in there and shower, I can't take you to the doctor looking like you have lost a kidney or something." He ordered.

"I'm going… not that it will do much good. I never brought anymore clothes up here." Will said, heading into the locker room.

"You let me worry about that." Jackson said heading off in the direction of the storage room. He knew there was a closet in there with extra uniforms in it, and he was pretty sure that this qualified as an emergency. This was the first moment that he had to himself since everything had happened. He wasn't sure what was going on in his own mind. He wasn't sure what was going on with him he had been fighting with himself all week. He was not going to be attracted to Will... He hasn't even noticed his looks, so why was it that as soon as that asshole Williams, had called him "Officer McHottie" suddenly he couldn't get that out of his mind...

He had noticed his glacier blue eyes and wondered what it would be like to see them with flames of desire dancing in them. The way he walked, his gorgeous smile... All of that was now firmly on his radar and after today he was damn sure he was going to be dreaming about a shirtless Will for several nights to come.

He made it to the storage room and rifled through the closet finding a uniform that looked like it would fit Will good enough for a trip to the doctor. He grabbed them and hurried back to the locker room.

He made it back to the locker room and was about to take the clothes in there, when he was stopped by LT Williams, "Kiriakis... What the hell happened out there today?" He asked gruffly.. "And where is Horton?" Sonny sighed... "He is in the shower." Sonny said holding up the extra clothes. "It was just a flesh wound... Nothing serious... But I am taking him to the doctor as soon as he has showered to make sure." "Good... But that still doesn't answer my question… what happened?"

"We responded to an aggravated assault call... Two men were about to go at it fighting with knives and Horton jumped out and tackled one of them before I could ever get the car in park basically." He said feeling annoyed that he had to explain this and wondered if he would have questioned if it had been anyone but Horton that was hurt. "He got his perp handcuffed and put in the car... But the perp had someone with him, he came at me from behind with a knife of his own, Horton shoved me out of the way but the knife got him in the process… don't worry though we got both of them." Sonny finished. "Good work" the Lt said. "Make sure to get back with me after you get Officer Horton to the doctor." He finished, walking off down the hall.

Sonny took a few deep breaths trying to get his anger under control. What was so damn special about this guy? Everyone was literally tripping over themselves for him. He shook his head and pushed the door open and walked into the locker room. "Hey Horton," Sonny called, just as he closed the door and turned to go to the door of the shower room. His intention was to let him know that he was laying the clothes on the chair right outside of the door, then he was going to the squad room to try and calm down. Will was standing there in front of his locker with a towel secured low on his hips… Water was still dripping from his hair, running in rivulets down his chiseled chest, his nipples soft and Sonny wondered what it would be like to taste him there, to feel them tighten under the ministrations of his tongue. His towel was knotted so low on his hips, Sonny could see his hip bones, forming the perfect V. His fingers itched to touch him there, to trace the lines of those bones, push the towel out of his way.

"Did you find something?" Will asked. Sonny was aware that he was speaking, his lips were moving, but he could not make out what was being said. Oh for the love of everything holy… Fuck did he really have to look that good, he could feel his traitorous body reacting to the sight before him and the thoughts running through his mind. "Jackson… are those for me?" Will was speaking again.

"Huh?" Sonny said. "What?"

Will pointed to the clothes in his hand.. "Are those for me?" he asked.

Sonny suddenly realized that he was staring, ignorantly. He made the supreme effort to pull himself together. "Yeah.." he said gruffly shoving the clothes into his outstretched hand and almost running from the room.

Sonny hurried all the way to the squad room and fell into a chair. Shit, he had so many emotions raging in his mind and body. He was pissed because Horton seemed to be the new poster boy for the department, he was pissed because the Lieutenant had all but insinuated that it was his place to watch out for the little asshole, but mostly he was pissed because more than anything else he wanted to go back in that locker room and rip that towel from his body and fuck the hell out of him.

He was not supposed to feel like that. He was supposed to be unconcerned and uninterested, and he couldn't be either one of those things feeling like he did in this moment. He was still sitting there, with his head in his hands when Will knocked on the door. "Umm Jackson?" he said. "I am finished now."

Sonny sighed, working to keep his body under control, "Well let's go then." He said pushing himself up out of the chair. He lead Will out of the station.

The next two hours were spent getting Will all checked out at the dr. The doctor agreed with the paramedic that there were no stitches needed, and sent him on his way. They were back in the car and headed to the station, when Will's stomach grumbled. "Hungry?" Sonny asked him.

"I guess." Will said laughing. "We never stopped for lunch today."

"Well we can stop now, if you want." Sonny said, mentally cursing himself just as soon as it was out of his mouth. _What the fuck are you doing?_ He asked himself.

"Are you sure?" Will asked.

He just nodded, and continued driving. After a couple of miles he pulled into the lot for a diner that all the cops frequented. They were just about to get out when his cell phone rang breaking the silence. He picked it up without looking at the caller ID "Jackson Kiriakis" he answered. He was silent as he listened to Jensen on the other end of the line. His heart was breaking with every word the other man uttered.

He was on the verge of tears, when he disconnected the call and laid the phone in his lap.

Will could see that whatever had been said on that phone call had shaken his partner to the core. He hesitantly reached out his hand, touching his shoulder, "Jackson?" he said, "Is there anything I can do?"

"I have to get back to the station.." he said quietly, "There's another victim in that case that we had the meeting about, the one that you sat in on the other day."

"Let's go.." Will said closing his door again. They hurried back to the station. As they were on the way, Will was on the fence about what he should do, he had sensed that Jackson was not all that happy that he had been in that meeting the last time. He wanted to help if he could, but he also knew that he and his partner were on thin ice as it was. Their relationship was fragile at best… He decided to just ask.

"Jackson…. Do you want me to go to the meeting or should I just head home?" he asked.

"You may as well come with me." Sonny said. "Lt Williams is going to want to see you for himself anyway" he groused. And just like that there it was... That huge chip was back on his shoulder. He knew he was being totally irrational, Horton had done nothing to acquire any special treatment that he had seen but he was always getting it anyway.

They walked into the station and went straight for the conference room. There was already a boisterous discussion going on when they got there. Williams and Jensen were discussing the close proximity in which the child was found to the others... and just like the others she had the manila envelope with the photos detailing her time with the sick bastard that had taken her.

No doubt it was Bennett... Sonny felt a nauseous feeling in the pit of his stomach. This happened to another child because he hadn't followed the rules. He had done this. If he had just listened to his partner... To all of the others that had been with them that night... This one child could have been sparred this disgusting life altering experience. The thoughts of all the things that had likely happened to her while in the hands of a monster like Bennett caused his stomach to lurch and he was glad that they had not made it into the diner.

The conversation in the room ceased and silence took its place as Sonny moved toward the board, studying the new picture. He closed his eyes... There was a fucking connection but he could not find it. He had looked at the photographs from every single angle... They had their best photograph analysts working on it... But so far no one had come up with anything..

Lt. Williams walked into the room... "What do we have?" He asked, looking at Jensen to give him the latest... Jensen began to speak giving a brief rundown of the new information that they had. As Lt. Williams listened his eyes glanced around the room landing on Sonny. The Lt Listened carefully and respectfully to everything that Jensen had to say. When he was done the LT spoke up... "Jensen...Kiriakis... My office now!" He watched as they filed out of the conference room before him. "Horton glad you are still with us." He said before he was gone.

Lt Williams stalked to his office where the other men were already in the chairs across from his desk waiting for him. "Jensen... What the hell are you doing? Did you call Jackson for this meeting?"

"Yes." Jensen answered simply. "He had a right to be here."

"You don't get to make that decision." Lt Williams said sternly. "Kiriakis is on punishment... I should not have to keep reminding you of that."

"Lt, with all due respect Sir...Sonny needs to be on this case, he has spent the most time learning this SOB and we are getting nowhere without him." Jensen said adamantly.

"Can't you just give me a chance?" Sonny asked him... "I know I fucked it up... I won't make the same mistake twice."

The Lt took his hat off and ran his hand through his thinning gray hair. "It's just not up to me son." He sighed. "This came from on up the chain of command, and my hands are tied on this one."

"There must be something that you can do?" Jensen tried again.

"I don't know what it would be." Lt Williams said shaking his head.

"What if you said that you wanted Horton to 'consult' on the case?" Sonny said using the one thing that he knew may work. "It would be a great case for him to learn on." Sonny said pushing the envelope a little harder.

"Yeah" Jensen agreed. "And he is already interested in the case. He has already been studying the picture board."

Lt Williams was quiet; imaging the road blocks the DA would throw up to keep Jackson off the case. She had a real and tangible dislike for Jackson ever since he had become a detective. He had been promoted two years ago, just before Christmas. Chief Morwessel had been proud as a new papa, he had basically handpicked Jackson from the academy.. Much like he had done with Horton.. The Chief had invited Jackson to the Christmas party at his house that year. Almost everyone who wasn't on duty that night had been at the party including DA Castleberry... She had already asked a couple times if the newest Detective was coming... explaining that she wanted to introduce herself and break the ice since they would be working together. The reactions were mixed because Jackson had shown up there that night with his date. Not because he had shown up with a guy, but because he had a guy to show up with. He was sure that Sonny had broken a few hearts that night, male and female. He had been a very nice young man, very charming. Of course it hadn't worked out, the poor guy couldn't handle being with a cop. Castleberry had disappeared pretty quickly after Jackson had arrived. Lt. Williams had always thought that it was because she had a crush on him, but now he was sure it was much more than that.

"It may work.." Lt Williams said, "I will take it to Haskins and Morwessell, but don't get your hopes up." He warned. "The D.A. is going to fight this tooth and nail, and I want you to be prepared for that.

"Ok, got it." Jensen said.

"I will let you know as soon as I know something." Lt Williams said as the two men got up to make their way out of the office. They both nodded and went out to close the door.

They walked back down the hall to the conference room. Horton was still standing there studying the photographs. Detective Williams rushed over to Jackson and Mitch Jensen… "So what happened?" he asked.

"Lt Williams is going to see what he can do to get me back on the case." Jackson answered him.

He turned to Horton, "Hey Horton," Let's go.." He noticed that Will had one of the pictures in his hand.

"One second." Will said, turning the photo this way and that way…

Sonny watched him, deciding to give him the few minutes that he needed. He watched as Will pulled another photo down from the board… he held them up side by side comparing them.

"Oh….My….God…" He said suddenly jerking a couple more photo's down… he looked at them…

"Jackson… you had better come and look at this."


	6. Chapter 6

Will waited until Jackson, Williams, and Jensen had crowded around the table. Then he laid several of the pictures he had pulled off of the board side by side, "Look at these photographs...They all have one common quality." He said as he pointed to the random looking green splotches.

Jackson looked closer. "Son of a Bitch" he said "Why have I never seen that before?"

"Honestly, probably because it is always in a random place in every photo, there doesn't seem to be any pattern." Will said, pointing it out in the other photos on the table, then he went to the wall and pointed it out on the pictures that were still hanging there. "I think it is because the photos were taken from different angles." He continued.

Jackson looked closer, Will was right the green patches on the photos were completely random. Sometimes they were near the head of the child, sometimes near the legs. Sometimes the splotches were elongated, sometimes more rounded, sometimes they looked like a curve, sometimes straight. "What the hell is it?" He asked.

"I don't know yet... But if I had to guess it looks like some kind of logo." Will said.

"Could be..." Jackson said. "Call down and see if there is anyone left in the evidence analyst's office" he said looking at Jensen. "Let's see what they make out of all of this."

Jensen scowled at Will and stepped out of the room to make the call. When he came back into the room he shook his head, "They are closed down for the night." He said. "We may as well get out of here and regroup in the morning" he said looking at Will pointedly.

Will nodded. "Okay then well I guess I had better head home." He said moving toward the door.

"Thanks for your help." Jensen said dismissing him, shoving some papers into a folder on the table.

Will walked out the door, and went to the locker room to grab his keys and cell.

"What the hell man?" Williams said glaring at Jensen.

"What?" He said looking back at him.

"That was rude, man" Williams said. "He just helped us figure out something that we haven't been able to see for months."

"Yeah?...Well so what?... Just because you have a crush on Officer "McHottie" doesn't mean that he automatically gains our friendship." Jensen said snidely.

At those words Sonny's head jerked up and he looked at Williams..before directing his attention over to Jensen "What's your problem?" he said directing the question to his former partner. They had been partners for a long time and he knew that something was bothering him, but he wasn't sure what. He seemed to like Will good enough before tonight.

"It just pisses me off that you had to use his name to get back on this case, like he is something special." Jensen said. "Especially when they all know that you deserve to be here a lot more than any of the rest of us."

"Look," Sonny said, "I appreciate that you are upset on my behalf and yeah I admit it, I have been pissed about the way everybody seems to be falling all over him. Then he just glanced at those pictures and gave us a really big clue, that none of us have seen in all the hours we have stared at them. And then it finally sunk in, that none of that matter, not really. What matters is that we solve this case and I think he can be a huge help….so can you give Will a break please?"

Jensen looked at Sonny and shrugged his shoulders, "So it's Will now huh? Sure I guess, if that's what you want. But this wasn't the first time that he has seen all of those pictures, Just remember that. Don't you and lover boy over there go and get some crazy case of hero worship."

"Thanks." Sonny said. He turned at glanced at the photo board one last time before he left the room. His brain was processing what all he had just learned. Williams had a crush on Will. The thought was just a little more than irritating. Then he started to question why he cared at all. He was half way down the hall, when Williams caught up with him.

"Sonny, man wait up.." he said walking beside him. "Can you maybe do me a favor?" he asked.

"Depends on what it is?" Sonny answered, stopping to look at him cautiously.

"I was wondering if you would put in a word for me with Will?" Williams said.

"What?" Sonny asked, "How do you know he even likes guys? And besides why would I do that?" Sonny racked his brain, he was pretty sure that he had never heard Will talk about a boyfriend or a girlfriend... Not that he had given him much of a chance to talk about anything.

"I just know… and you are with him all day, every day, maybe you could just... you know make sure he knows that I am available or something?"

"Ummm no.. you are on your own." Sonny said, "See you later." He walked off leaving Williams to stand there and stare down the hall after him.

Sonny got into the elevator and pressed the button for the ground level parking garage where he had left his personal vehicle, before even letting himself think about his reaction to that conversation.

He wasn't sure that he liked the fact that he had been ready to punch the guy for asking him to put in a word for him. Who in their right mind wouldn't want a shot at his partner, he thought as his mind conjured up the picture of Will in the towel, fresh from the shower. Maybe he should just admit to himself that he wanted a shot. Yeah like that was going to go over well after he had treated him like gum that he scraped from the bottom of his shoe for the last 3 weeks. He sighed as the door opened and stepped out into the garage.

Sonny was almost at his vehicle when he saw Will, talking to Captain Haskins in the parking garage. Captain Haskins was standing at the open door of his car, laughing at something Will was saying. He said one last thing to Will and then slid behind the wheel of the car. Will closed the door and waved as he started his car and drove off.

Sonny unlocked the doors of his own vehicle and was about to climb in when Will started toward him. "Goodnight Jackson" Will said. "Guess I will see you in the morning." Sonny watched as he walked over to a small black four door sedan, and opened the door. It was certainly not what he expected to see him driving. He stood there for a moment, an internal battle waging in his head.

"Hey Will..." Will looked up, and waited to see what he was going to say. "We never did get that meal." Sonny said. "You still want to go?"

Will grinned and nodded. He closed the door to his own vehicle again and walked over to Jackson.

"What did you have in mind?" he asked trying to keep the excitement from his voice. Mentally reminding himself that this was excitement only because his partner was finally accepting him, and most definitely not because his INSANELY HOT partner had just asked him out to dinner. He wasn't even sure if Sonny was into men or women, or both… he had never heard him say… maybe with a very carefully crafted, appropriately timed question he could find out tonight.

"Whatever you want." Jackson said, "I'm not picky."

"Let's go try something new." Will said. "There is a restaurant over on the west side that I have been dying to try."

Jackson grinned. "Perfect, I live over on the west side anyway." Jackson said. "What about you, where do you live?" he asked.

_Oh Wow..._ _I could get lost in that smile. _Will thought, he realized that Jackson was waiting for something from him, so he grinned back and nodded.

Jackson laughed out loud. He couldn't help it. _What in the world was going on in Will's head. _

"What? Will asked, completely serious... which only made him laugh harder... "Jackson, what the hell is so funny." Will said, getting frustrated.

"It's Sonny... and I am laughing because I asked you a question that requires a verbal answer." Sonny said, still chuckling. "Where do you live?" he asked again.

"Oh" Will said, confused. "What's Sonny? And I live on the west side too of course, over on Juniper Ave."

"Sonny... that's my name... well what my friends call me anyway, Only the Brass calls me Jackson. Oh! And my mom when I am in trouble." Sonny said.

"We're friends now?" Will asked.

"Suppose so" Sonny said, "Let's go eat, you lead the way and I will follow in my car." he said turning, almost diving into his own car, before he said something stupid.

SONNY POV:

He shut the door firmly and watched as Will went over and got into his own car. Sonny pulled out behind him as he pulled out onto the street. What in the hell had just happened? How had he gone from definitely hating Will to definitely NOT hating Will. Somehow in the span of about 12 hours he had went through more emotions that he cared to count and all because of Will. There were some that were completely understandable and some that were shocking. He had been so angry with him for being here, when all along he probably should have been grateful. At least he was still on the PD and he was still able to work the case… maybe from afar, but that was better than nothing. And then the goofy ass had shoved him out of the way and practically thrown himself in front of that knife. Yeah he was even frustrated about that…which of course was the whole reason he had insisted on taking him to the doctor. If he had let him figure it out on his own, then he would not have seen Will in a towel waiting for the clothes… Then that image wouldn't be burned into his head. He wasn't even going to pull that thought out and examine it right now. He had to get through this dinner he had invited Will on and he would rather do it in comfort.

He forced his mind to other thoughts. How had Will figured out what was right there before them the whole time. He was going to ask him what drew his attention to the random green areas of the photos. He wondered if it was enough to get them a new lead. Then he began to think about the pattern of the disappearances and wondered if Will could shed some light on that as well. It seemed funny to be leaning on a cadet right out of the academy, but he wanted to get this guy so it really didn't matter to Sonny where the help come from.

He followed Will until he pulled into the parking lot of the new pizza parlor. Sonny hadn't been here before either. They had been open here a couple months. But Sonny usually just grabbed take out on the way home. This was more like one of those pizza places that he had been to with his parents. The kind that you go in and sit down and have family dinner at a table in the back and then everyone was given a change allotment for the arcade in the back. He parked beside Will and took a deep breath before getting out of the car.

WILL POV

He watched as Jackson… no wait Sonny basically threw himself into his car and refused the need to chuckle at that sight. Sonny… Will said it again tasting the word on his tongue. Hmmm, he was Will and Jackson was now Sonny. Things were definitely looking up. He thought back over the last few weeks… almost 3 to be exact…. Will had stopped counting the number of cold showers that he had taken at night after he was home from work. Sonny hadn't been the friendliest person over the weeks, but damn it he had not been able to keep from noticing his hot partner. He had plenty of time to study his profile and imagine how so soft his skin must feel over those hard defined muscles that he hid beneath that uniform. Even with Sonny keeping them on the East side of the city… where it was hard at times to think quick enough to know his own name he had, had plenty enough time to think about him, to imagine how he looked after… well never mind, probably best to leave that thought alone. He had spent a shamelessly exorbitant amount of time thinking about how it would feel to run his fingers through that sexy as hell hair. He had done really good pretending that he didn't care that Sonny didn't like him, when all along it had been killing him.

He had to focus on something else, before he got to the restaurant. He didn't think Sonny would appreciate it if he jumped him in the car… He turned his thoughts to the case. He racked his brain to see what he could come up with as far as those green splotches, he was almost positive that it was a green logo of some sort, but for what he wasn't sure.

He finally pulled into the parking lot for the pizza parlor that he wanted to go to. This was one like they had back home. Sure it was a different name and a different owner, maybe with all different kinds of pizza.. they may even have pizza's that he has never heard of, but what drew him here was the atmosphere. He had been by a few times and seen the families traipse in and out and he missed that small family feel. Sonny pulled into the spot beside him. Will closed his eyes and said a quick prayer that he wouldn't screw this up, then he hopped out of the car.

Sonny and Will walked into the restaurant and the waitress told them to choose wherever they would like to sit. They chose a table in the corner of the room. Both of them grabbed a menu and started to peruse the choices.

They decided on a half and half pizza, pepperoni and jalapeño's for Sonny, and Italian sausage with peppers and onions for Will. They gave their order to the young lady that bopped up to the table and asked what they were having. She placed water glasses in front of them and filled them from a pitcher that she carried on her tray. "What else would you like to drink?" she asked.

Will looked at Sonny, then shrugged, indicating that it didn't matter to him. "Two Coronas" Sonny said. The young girl nodded and disappeared back the way she had come. She was back in just a minute or two with the two bottles of beer, "Your pizza will be out in a few." She said.

"So..." Sonny said, "How in the world did you pick those green splotches out of the photos that fast?" he said.

"I don't know to be honest." Will said, "I just kept thinking that there was something similar about each picture and then I started to see them. At first I wasn't sure if I was right because the placement is soo random."

"It is random, in every picture." Sonny agreed. "We are going to put our best analysts on it, but they have already been looking at the pictures for the past 9 months."

"Is that how long this case has been open?" Will asked.

"Yeah, well not technically, what were are putting together now has been open for 6 months, but I think he has at least one more victim that was 3 months previous to the first one. The MO is a little different and the evidence is a little sketchier, but I am convinced that he played at least a part in it."

"Well if there is one more, there could be several more." Will said shaking his head. "Is there a picture of the victim in that one, something that I could get a look at?" He asked.

"Yeah, I have the case file in the detective squad room, in my desk." Sonny answered, "We can look at it tomorrow."

The waitress interrupted their conversation to place the pizza between them and grab the two empty beer bottles, "Another round?" She asked. Will just nodded his consent.

Sonny picked up and slice of pizza and bit into it. As soon as the taste of the pizza exploded on his tongue, he moaned. "This is really good." he said.

Will followed his lead and picked up a slice of his own section. He took an extra large bite. "Wow.. This really is good" he said around the mouth full of food.

They ate in silence for a few minutes, devouring about half of the pizza, and downing the two beers that had appeared on the table while they were busily chewing the food.

Will pulled a napkin from the holder, wiping the crumbs from his lips. He took a couple sips of his water and looked around the dining area waiting for Sonny to finish his food.

"So I was thinking that I would spend my two off days this week, going over the case files again." Sonny said.

"Guess your girlfriend won't care much for that plan?" Will teased.

Sonny shook his head, since HE doesn't exist… I am sure HE won't mind." He said putting extra emphasis on the He part of his answer. "Of course it has to be done away from the station and on my own time, since I am technically suspended from that investigation."

"What's up with that?" Will said, secretly pleased that he had gotten the answer he had been fishing for. "I have been wondering since this case is obviously something that is important to you."

Sonny shrugged, "Bad judgment call. We were on our way to his apartment building and I believed that he either had a child there or was making arrangements to bring a child there and I called in for a search warrant and the D.A. said she would get it for me... when we got there we were getting into position to do the search and seizure, I heard a child scream... I acted on my gut instincts and we busted through the door. The sick bastard had a recording of a child being tortured in the DVD player, the volume turned up to an ungodly pitch... there was no child in the apartment. To make a long story short, we arrested his sorry ass and seized the tapes and some plans and a picture of a beautiful little girl with her address and some notes from where he had been scouting her house, on the back.. but all of the evidence was thrown out and he walked because the D.A. didn't even apply for the search warrant for over an hour after we requested it." He finished,

"That sucks." Will said. "Why would she do that?"

"Beats the hell out of me." Sonny answered, "But she hasn't liked me since a few weeks after she met me."

"Yeah but that is really screwing with someone's career." Will said. "That is definitely an abuse of her position, if she did it because she doesn't like you."

"Not much I can do about it now." Sonny said.

The waitress came by, "Can I get you anything else?" she asked.

"Just the check, and maybe a box..." Sonny said, indicating the leftovers still on the pan.

"Sure" she said. She dropped the check on the table and turned to go and get the box.

Sonny picked up the check and pulled out his wallet, shaking his head as Will reached for his own wallet... "Nope, this in on me. It's the least I can do, since you helped figure out something about the photos."

"Not to mention I jumped in front of a knife for you." Will teased, hoping that he wasn't stepping out of line. They seemed to have forged an tenative alliance and he didn't want to jeopardize that, but he really wanted to see that killer smile that he had been dreaming of since he had caught a glimpse of it.

Sonny smiled... "What?" he asked indignant... "You didn't jump in front of a knife for me... you were just trying to suck up... I think that's what that was all about. You have been a suck up since that first day."

"Oh no!" Will disagreed. "I was just trying to save your old ass."

The waitress came and took the check and the two twenties that Sonny had laid on the table. "Keep the change." He said.

"Thank you!" She said smiling, then handed him the box.

Sonny and Will put the pizza into the box and headed out into the parking lot. Will handed Sonny the box. "You paid for the pizza, you should take the leftovers." he said.

Sonny put his hands in his pockets... "Nah, you take it." He said, "I don't have anyone to share half a pizza with."

"Me either." Will said. "I live alone but I will find someone to give it to, my neighbor's kids will love it."

Sonny nodded... "Okay so I will see you in the morning then?"

"Wouldn't miss it." Will said waving as he got into the car.


	7. Chapter 7

"Come on man, I just need to borrow the file for tonight." Sonny said to Jensen, "You can come by the house and get it in the morning."

"Fine!" he said. "But you had better protect this with your life, or my ass will be on the line."

"You know I will." Sonny said, taking it when the other man handed it over. "Thanks, I really appreciate it."

He took the file and headed out of the precinct. When he got to the parking garage, Will was leaning against his car. Sonny's heart skipped a beat. What the hell was wrong with him. It seemed like he had been thinking of nothing but Will since the other night when they had pizza together. The next day, the close proximity in the patrol car had driven him nuts, he had almost suggested that they get out and walk the beat for a while. The smell of the after shave that Will had been wearing hung in the air teasing his senses, forcing him to remember the way Will had looked standing there wet from the shower wrapped in that barely there towel.

His steps faltered for just a second, but he recovered quickly and went over to him, coming to a stop right in front of him. "You sure you wanna spend your off days like this?" he asked Will.

"I offered didn't I?" He said. "I really don't mind, it isn't like I had a hot date or anything anyway." Will teased. "So my place or yours?"

"Mine, I guess." Sonny said, reasoning with himself, he didn't think he could be surrounded by all things Will and keep his mind on the case. As a matter of fact his mind seemed to have taken a leave of absence in the last few days.

"Great!" Will said "You want to order Chinese food tonight?" he asked.

"Sure.. I like all Chinese so just get whatever you like." Sonny said. "My address is 428 Magnolia Ave, in case you want to just have it delivered."

Will nodded and looked up the number to his favorite Chinese take-out restaurant. He placed an order for Beef and Broccoli, and Orange Chicken, along with some fried rice and a couple egg rolls, then gave Sonny's address.

"We better go, they will have the food delivered to your house in 20 minutes." Will said, "I will follow you."

Sonny nodded and walked toward his own car…. How had Will picked his two favorite dishes. Was it possible that they had that much in common. He pushed the thought away and drove out of the parking garage, pointing the car toward home. He kept a check on Will making sure he was still behind him, until they pulled into his driveway.

They had perfect timing, the food delivery person, pulled up right behind them. Sonny opened the door while Will paid for the food. Then he followed Sonny into the house. He was at the breakfast nook putting out plates and silverware, pulling sodas from the fridge.

They dished out the food and then went into the living room. Sonny pushed the Coffee table off to the side out of the way and they began to meticulously lay the photos out in a chronological order, then sat down and started to eat.

While Will ate he looked around at the pictures. Focusing on the one that Sonny had laid out first, the young girl in the picture appeared to be about 6 years old, blonde haired, blue eyed. In another life she could pass for his child. The picture was different from the others, there was no green blotch in this one… but there were other similarities. He went over and over the green blotches in the others, trying to make sense of them, turning them this way and that. It wasn't making a lot of sense to him, he had never seen a logo like that. He was sure of it… but it had a feel to it, a feeling was growing in his gut, nagging at him, telling him he should have know what it is.

Sonny ate in silence and allowed Will time to think about what he was looking at. While Will pursued the pictures, totally engrossed in his thoughts, it afforded Sonny time to study him. Sonny fought the urge to groan every time Will brought his fork to that gorgeous mouth. When Will's tongue peeked out to lick some sauce from the corner of his mouth, Sonny's fingers curled around his own fork so tightly that they actually had the tingling sensation in them that made them feel as if they were asleep. Sonny looked down to see his knuckles had turned white, he forced himself to loosen his grip, so that the blood could circulate to his fingers again.

Will closed his eyes for a minute and opened them up again, looking over the images of the little girls… always little girls… there seemed to be a pattern, brunette, blonde, redhead, over and over… always children that appeared to be between the ages of 4 and 8. It was heartbreaking that anyone could be so cruel.

Sonny watched as Will picked up his eggroll and dipped it in the sauce he had poured on his plate. After taking a bit he laid it back down on the plate and brought his fingers to his lips, licking off the remaining sauce. Sonny swallowed hard, losing the grip on his fork, it slipped from his hand and clattered onto his plate. He blushed and sat his plate to the side.

Sonny picked up a couple of the reports, clearing his throat he began to read them off to Will… Giving him information about where the children had been located… about what exactly they had all suffered.

Will listened intently as he took a couple more bites. Cringing as Sonny went over the details of all of the victims. This guy was definitely a sociopath, he was sick and twisted and none of those little girls were ever going to be the same. But at least they did have the opportunity to try and make their life as normal as possible.

"I don't know what to think about this asshole… I can not figure out the method to his particular brand of madness. Will said.

"Do you think it would help to see him in person, to see they way that he acts and carries himself?" Sonny asked.

Will put his plate to the side and took a sip of soda. "It couldn't hurt." He said.

"We could do a stake out…" Sonny said. "If you are up for it?"

"Sure!" Will agreed "When do you want to go?"

"All of the girls were taken between 11pm and 3am" Sonny said. "So we could go later on tonight."

"Okay!" Will said. " I am going to head home and shower, and maybe grab a nap before we go." He picked up his plate and sit it in the sink in the kitchen, then he tore off a slip of paper by the phone in the kitchen. He picked up the pen and jotted down his home address. "Pick me up about 10:30?" he said.

"Yep." Sonny said. He knew that he should get up and show Will to the door, but he was too busy admiring the lethal way that he moved.

Long after the door had shut behind Will, Sonny got up and took his plate to the kitchen, he sat it in the sink with Will's and went to take a shower himself, a cold one.

Once he had showered and threw on some sweat pants on he laid across the bed to take a nap.

Will got home from Sonny's and stripped off on his way to the bathroom. He turned the shower heads on and stepped in, letting the water wash over his body, without allowing it to warm up all the way. The water was cool and refreshing and just what he needed. He had spent most of the day pretending to be thinking about anything other than Sonny, because thinking about his partner warmed his blood and scrambled his mind. He stayed under the water until it had warmed up, got pure hot, and then cooled off again. When he stepped out of the shower and turned off the faucet the water was bordering on frigid.

He dried off and stretched out on the bed, not even bothering with underwear. He just wanted to try and sleep. The sleep that he found was fitful and draining and not at all restful. He dreamed of the little girls that had suffered unspeakable acts by this monster that was walking around free. He dreamed of the kid that had tried to stab his partner, and had gotten him instead. He dreamed of Sonny surging on top of him…. And that was when he was awakened by the rude unrelenting pounding on the door.

"Horton….. wake your ass up right now!" Sonny yelled through the door.

"Shit!" Will yelled, jumping up off of the bed and rushing to the door. His hand was on the knob about to pull the door open when he realized that he was standing there in the buff.

"Uhh Just a second Sonny." Will said looking around, He grabbed the dish towel that was thrown haphazardly on the table. He shook it out and held it in front of him with one hand… then opened the door. "Sorry I overslept…" he said, "Make yourself at home and I will throw some clothes on and be right back." Will said backing out of the room.

He backed all the way into the bedroom and closed the door, then rushed around grabbing some jeans and a button down, throwing them on.

As soon as the bedroom door was closed, Sonny stepped inside the apartment and closed the door behind him, sagging back against it.

"Great, now how am I supposed to get through the night." he muttered. He was already anticipating the fact that it was going to be a long night, and now the last couple of minutes were going to play through his mind like a freaking mariachi band.

There was no denying that he was fully and completely, even painfully aware of Will. He closed his eyes, and tried to think of the most revolting things that he could imagine. But the boy's body was made for sin. Sonny concentrated on breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth. The last thing that he needed was to start this night with a raging hard on.

It was only a few minutes before the door opened and Will emerged dressed in tight fitting jeans and a bright blue polo.

"I'm so sorry." He said again. "I laid down across my bed to rest and overslept."

"It's okay." Sonny said. "Ready to go?" He had to get out of that apartment and get some air, before he said screw the stakeout and attacked the other man.

When they were in the car and on the familiar path to the east side of town, Will pulled his phone from his pocket. It had vibrated at least twice since he had gotten into the car. He checked his missed calls, he had two from his mom and one from his grandfather. He briefly wondered what that was about, but pushed the thought firmly from his mind.

Two hours later they were parked across the street from the very building where Sonny had carried out the last search and seizure. They were trying to see what Bennett was up to. About 40 minutes after they had gotten there, he pulled in the lot in an old beat up truck, parked it very clumsily, and stumbled into the building. They had not seen him since.

They had been making small talk, with the subjects ranging from the case, to food and drink, to the police academy.

Sonny turned in the seat and leaned against the driver's door. He pulled his leg into the seat and toyed with the strings on his shoe,

"So, your friend Jensen..." Will began. "He was nice to me to begin with and now I get the distinct feeling that he doesn't care much for me."

"Don't pay any attention to him." Sonny said. "He was my partner for a long time and he feels like it is beneath me to be training someone."

"Ah!" Will said. "What's the story with Williams?" He asked.

"What do you mean?" Sonny asked cautiously.

"Well I am about 100% he was flirting with me the other morning before you got there... and for the last two days he has pretty much ignored me." Will said. "It's so weird and I am just getting mixed signals from him."

"Oh." Sonny said, "I didn't realize that you are interested in him."

"I'm not..." Will said, "I just can't figure him out."

Sonny felt the intense relief flow through his system, with Will's denial. "He changes his mind about things with the wind, don't take it personally." Sonny said.

They talked a little more until Will yawned mid sentence. "i don't think I got enough sleep." he said looking around. His eyes fell on the convenience store on the corner. "I am going to walk down and get us some coffee." he said opening the door and stepping out into the night.

Sonny watched as he jogged across the street and disappeared into the store. He was in major trouble... and he was smart enough to know it.

Will went into the store and grabbed two coffee cups. He went over to the corner that housed the coffee machines. The amount of choices was intimidating. There was French Vanilla, Hazelnut, Salted Caramel Macchiato, Mocha, Special dark roast coffee and plain on regular and everything in between. He decided to get two flavors in case Sonny didn't like one, maybe he would like the other. He got one cup of the Salted Caramel and one French Vanilla. Then he ambled over to the cookie rack and chose a pack of cookies. He went to the counter and paid for his snacks. He walked back to the car and handed Sonny one of the cups through the open window. Then opened the door and got back in..

"I didn't know what you would like…" Will said, "So I got the salted caramel macchiato and a French vanilla, take your pick."

"You chose." Sonny said, "They both sound delicious."

Will handed him the caramel coffee and opened the cookies putting them in the center console. He watched as Sonny took a small sip of his coffee.

"Mmmmmm" Sonny hummed, "This is really really good, especially with it being convenience store coffee." He took the lid off of the cup and took a bigger drink. The froth gathered on his top lip, forming a moustache and Will watched as he attempted to lick the sticky concoction from the corners of his mouth.

Will drew in a deep breath. He started reciting the ABC'S backwards in an attempt to keep his thoughts clean when all he really wanted to think about was feeling that tongue on his own body. He shook his head.

"What?" Sonny asked, when he saw Will's smile. "Do I have it everywhere?"

"Yeah!" Will said laughing "You do."

"Can't help it… it is really good." Sonny said. "You want to taste it?"

Will thought about it for one split second before nodding… Yes…

He reached out and grabbed the front of Sonny's shirt and pulled him forward. He pulled him forward until they were nose to nose, breathing the same air.

Will could smell the sweetness of the caramel on Sonny's breath, his heart beating wildly in his chest. Sonny seemed to be frozen in place, He didn't move aside from allowing his eyes to slide closed.

Will took that as consent, well that and the fact that Sonny wasn't scrambling away from him. He leaned the last couple of inches forward and pressed their lips together. Sonny moaned deep within his throat and returned the simple pressure of Will's lips.


	8. Chapter 8

Will pulled back separating their lips. He looked at Sonny, trying to determine what Sonny was feeling.

Sonny blinked a couple times at the loss of contact. He seemed dazed.

"Sorry." Will said, "I probably should not have done that."

"Um… no…. don't.." Sonny said, he couldn't seem to get a complete sentence out of his mouth. His free hand slid around the back of Will's neck pulling him forward. It's not necessary…." He said, before he connected their lips together again. He opened his mouth over Will's, tentatively touching his tongue to Will's lips until he opened for him. His tongue dipping into Will's mouth, darting past his lips, their tongues sliding together creating a friction.

Will reached blindly out with his coffee cup, searching for the cup holder. He barely got the bottom of the cup secured in it before he let go and wrapped his arms around Sonny.

Sonny moved forward until he was almost astride Will's lap in the passenger seat. Wills hands settled on his hips.

Everything else faded away until there was only Will and Sonny… the kiss. They were matching each other stroke for stroke. Their tongues were dueling, fighting for dominance, until they had to break away to breathe.

Sonny's mouth left Will's, dragging in a ragged breath, his teeth sinking into the soft skin in the crook of Will's neck and shoulder.

"Yesssss" Will moaned loudly.

"EXCUSE ME" The gruff voice broke through the fog of desire they were shrouded in. "I am going to need to see your license and registration please." The beat cop said, shining his flashlight in the window.

"You have got to be kidding me" Sonny whispered in Will's ear. He had never been so mortified.

He reached into the glove box and pulled out his shield and photo ID passing it out the window.

The young officer shined the light on the ID and the badge. "Detective Kiriakis, please excuse me." He stuttered. "I didn't recognize your car."

"It's okay." Sonny said, taking his badge from him, clearing his throat "We were just on a stake out." He motioned to Will, "And we needed a good cover story."

"Yes Sir" the officer said, trying to contain his laughter."Of course Sir."

"What is so funny officer?" Sonny asked sternly.

"Well sir, I haven't really been on a lot of stake outs but they never told us about these kinds of stakeouts in the academy." The officer answered him.

"Go on now…get out of here" Sonny said shooing him away from the car. "You are about to blow our cover."

"Yes Sir…" The young man said without another word. He turned and went back to his car.

As soon as the officer had pulled off into traffic, Will looked at Sonny and burst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. "Oh my God." He said "I can't believe we almost got busted for public indecency."

Sonny blushed, "Yeah, I guess I was practically mauling you in a parked car on the side of a public street." He said, backing off of Will and settling back into the driver seat, he cranked the car and pulled on his seat belt, then waited for Will to do the same before he pulled off into the traffic.

Will was quiet as Sonny drove them back across town. Well mostly quiet, except for the occasional giggle that escaped him each time he thought about the officer's face when he saw Sonny's badge. His eyes had nearly bulged out of his head.

During one of Will's fits Sonny reached over and swatted him on the arm. "Would you shut up?" he said teasingly, "Don't you know that I am never going to live this down."

"At least we weren't officially on duty tonight." Will said. "It could have been worse."

"Yeah!" Sonny agreed. "It could have been Jensen, or worse that asshat Williams."

Will nodded in agreement, falling quiet. He was debating the intelligence of inviting Sonny up to his apartment. Honestly that was what he really wanted to do, since he was not ready for the night to be over, despite the fact that it was nearing 4 AM. On the other hand if he invited him up and things continued the way they had been going, odds were they were going to end up having sex. Not that having sex with Sonny was something that he didn't want to do, because he did… A Lot… But it really wasn't the right time. He was still training and Sonny was his superior officer. There was reason on top of reason, on top of reason why this was an extremely bad idea…. But even with all that, Will couldn't convince himself that it was best to let Sonny go home. A clear indicator that he was not the best judge of right and wrong… at least not where it pertained to Sonny.

Sonny glanced at Will from the corner of his eye. Will was staring off into space and he could tell that Will was no longer in the car with him, not mentally at least. Mentally he seemed to be a million miles away. Sonny couldn't help but wonder what was going on behind those sexy eyes. He doubted that Will even realized it himself, but he was twisting his hands in his lap. Something was bothering Will and he was almost sure that he knew what it was. Now that Will had time to think about things, he was bound to be confused. He spent the first few weeks that he had known Will treating him like shit, and then tonight he had been all over him in the car. If they hadn't been interrupted there is no telling how far it would have gone. Talk about making a u turn. But in all fairness Will had kissed him first… and he hadn't complained when Sonny had kissed him back. And Sonny was no saint, and to be perfectly honest he wasn't sure if St. Peter himself could have resisted Will.

Sonny turned onto Will's street, and pulled into the parking lot of his apartment building. He had himself convinced that an apology was in order. It seemed like it was the right thing to do.

He shut the car off and turned to face Will.

"Will, I…" He started.

"I think we need…" Will began at the same time.

They both paused…. "Go ahead…" they said in unison.

Both of them laughed…. "You first." Will said, making a big show of closing his mouth.

"Okay." Sonny said grinning. "I am sorry that I have been such an asshole to you. It really had nothing to do with you."

"It's okay." Will answered. "I totally get it, there is no need to explain."

"Thanks" Sonny said, "And I am sorry about…. Well earlier…. We.."

"Stop right there!" Will said, "I know you aren't fixing to apologize for kissing me back earlier tonight, because I am pretty sure that I kissed you first."

Sonny opened his mouth to respond, but was silenced when Will narrowed his eyes at him. "Because that would really piss me off." Will finished.

"No….." Sonny said… "But I was going to apologize for almost molesting you."

"Oh!" Will said feeling playful. "That's too bad." He put on his best pouty face. "I was kind of hoping that we could try that again before I go upstairs."

"Is that so?" Sonny said, catching onto Will's game. His heart was practically singing… Will didn't seem to think he was an asshole at all.

"Umm Hmmm" Will answered… crooking his finger at Sonny, beckoning him over.

Sonny's tongue licked across his dry lips as he leaned forward toward Will.

Will met him in the middle, cupping his hand around the back of Sonny's neck. He pressed their lips together, Coaching Sonny to open up to him. He licked gently over Sonny's lips, sucking his bottom lip between his teeth. He nibbled on Sonny's lip. Sonny moaned deep in his throat, sliding his arms around Will, pulling him closer. He rolled his head to the side, exposing his neck to Will's greedy mouth.

The feel of Will's tongue, created the feeling of white hot velvet gliding over his skin. Goosebumps covered Sonny's arms when Will's teeth grazed his ear lobe. Will's hot breath bathed the skin of his neck.

Will whispered in his ear. "I really, really want to invite you upstairs."

"Hmmm" Sonny agreed.

"It's probably not a good idea." Will continued.

Sonny smoothed his hand up Will's back, tangling his fingers into the thick blonde locks at the nape of Will's neck. He used the hold on Will's hair to arch his neck back. He leaned down and nibbled along Will's collar bone, using his tongue to soothe the redness of his skin. Sonny sucked a small bruise into the skin just below Will's ear, following the same path that Will had taken on his own neck until he was able to trace the shell of Will's ear with his tongue.

"Then you need to get out of here…." Sonny said against his ear. "Before we end up in the back seat like teenagers."

"Just a minute" Will said, finding Sonny's lips again with his own.

He kissed Sonny deeply, plunging his tongue into his mouth, again and again.

He wanted nothing more than to push Sonny back on that seat and loosen the buttons on his shirt one by one, revealing all the glory that was hidden beneath it. He wanted to push that shirt off of his broad shoulders and learn his muscles, all the dips and valleys. He wanted to trace them with his tongue, commit them to memory. He groaned in frustration, reaching behind him, groping for the door handle until he found it. He pulled the handle and popped the door open. They were both bathed in the soft interior light of the car.

He broke the kiss, wrenching his mouth from Sonny's… "Good Night Sonny." He said, jumping from the car.

Sonny's eyes were still closed when Will slammed the door and forced himself to keep walking until he was safely inside of the apartment building.

Sonny righted himself in the seat. He lay his head over on the steering wheel, closing his eyes. He gripped the wheel tightly until his knuckles turned white and his fingers cramped up. He could not have predicted how hard it was going to be to let Will disappear behind the entrance door of his apartment building. He wanted to jump from the car and follow him upstairs. And that was just the start of what he wanted to do… instead he forced his mind to other things and took a few deep breaths to clear his head.

Once he felt in control, he lifted his head and blinked a couple of times before heading home.

Meanwhile as soon as Will hit the door of his apartment he went straight to the shower, turning the water on and adjusting it to cold… but not freezing, he stripped and stepped under the spray. His blood was thrumming through his veins, he braced his hands on the shower wall and just let the water cascade over his body.

How in the hell was he going to get through the next few weeks? He had already been fighting a crush on Sonny and then he had kissed him tonight in that car… and now he wanted to do a hell of a lot more. And he doubted very much that he was going to be able to keep his mind from dwelling on those things now. Now that he had tasted Sonny's kiss, now that he knew exactly how Sonny's fingers felt on his skin and knew the way that Sonny responded to his own touch. Yes, the next few weeks were going to be sheer torture.

He wasn't really getting anywhere with the shower, so he turned the nozzle to off and stepped out of the shower. He toweled off and secured the towel around his waist then walked into the kitchen for a drink before he crashed for a couple of hours.

Will woke to the shrill ringing of his telephone. He reached over and picked it up, mumbling… "Hello?"

"Still asleep?" Sonny asked.

"Nah, I was awake." Will said sitting up, he glanced at the clock. He had been sleeping about 3 hours. He stifled a yawn.

"Liar." Sonny said.

"What do you want?" Will groused.

"Get dressed and meet me at the station ASAP." Sonny said. "The analysts have a few things for us on the pictures. Jensen just called me, he will meet us there as well."

"MmmKay." Will said, "On my way." He jumped out of bed and went to the closet, he wasn't officially on duty today so he was just going to throw on some jeans. He pulled his favorite jeans from the stack on the shelf in the closet and then grabbed white t shirt. He pulled it on and then threw on a button down over the tee. He left it hanging open and pulled on his socks before shoving his feet into his favorite pair of running shoes.

He grabbed his keys and was out the door in less than 10 minutes.

On the way, several thoughts ran through his mind, He had been invited to the meeting about the case, this time by Sonny, he couldn't help but wonder if Jensen knew that he was coming or if this would be one more thing to add to the list of reasons that he was getting the cold shoulder from the other man. He wondered if the analysts were going to agree with him about the green blotches or if he was somehow wrong. And lastly he wondered if Sonny would treat him any differently after the two make out sessions they had in the last 12 hours. Apparently he didn't have long to wait since he would be pulling into the parking garage at the station in approximately 10 minutes.


	9. Chapter 9

Will was surprised when he pulled into the parking garage and saw Sonny leaning against his car waiting for him. He pulled into the next parking space and climbed out of the car.

"Bout time you got here." Sonny said teasingly.

"Yeah, Yeah" Will said, "We can't all wake up looking like we just stepped off the page of a GQ magazine."

"I will take that as a compliment!" Sonny said pushing his shoulder. He looked Will over and died a little inside when he took in the faded jeans slung low on his hips. His pulse kicked up a notch…

"Shut up…" Will said, "Have you been in yet?"

"Nope." Sonny said, "I was waiting for you, I thought we could walk in together."

"So you didn't tell Jensen that I was coming to this meeting huh?" Will asked.

"Nah, He will find out soon enough." Sonny said walking over to the elevator and pressing the button.

When the doors opened, Sonny motioned for Will to go ahead, then he followed him into the elevator. "So those jeans." Sonny said. "Had them long?"

"A little while." Will said grinning… "Why do you ask?"

"They just look like they were made for your hips." Sonny whispered.

"You been checking out my ass, Kiriakis?" Will asked.

"Damn straight!" Sonny answered, as he walked forward and pushed Will back against the elevator wall, he leaned forward and braced each of his hands on each side of Wills head. "It's your own fault for wearing those jeans."

"I will have to remember that." Will said, looping his arms around Sonny's neck and pressed their lips together briefly. He pulled back and dropped his arms just as the doors opened. He ducked under Sonny's arm and walked off the elevator, leaving Sonny to follow him.

Sonny stared after him for a moment, then hurried to catch up to him.

He caught him and they walked into the conference room together. Jensen glanced up and grimaced, but he got up and shook Will's hand and then clasped Sonny on the shoulder. "Garth will be down in a few minutes."

"Great!" Sonny said, "Did he give you any hints?"

"Not at all." Jensen said, glancing up when the door opened again.

Detective Williams walked into the room, grinning from ear to ear. "Hello people!" he said.

Everyone murmured their greetings, as the door opened again and Captain Haskins and Lieutenant Williams walked in. "Gentlemen." They said. Sonny did not miss the look that passed between the Captain and the Lieutenant, and apparently neither did Jensen.

"I called Detective Kiriakis to come to this meeting and asked that he bring Officer Horton." He said, pinning Sonny and Will with a terse look, warning them to keep their mouths closed and let him handle it. "I felt that they should be here since Officer Horton is actually the one that noticed the similarities in the photographs. And if I may point it out, the similarities were missed by everyone including all of the analysts that we have on staff."

"I don't have a problem with either one of them being here." Captain Haskins said, looking at Lieutenant Williams to see if he had any further comment. Lieutenant Williams just shook his head.

"Did anyone call Agent Threadgill?" The captain asked.

"Yes Sir." Jensen said, "He is on the way here now."

Lieutenant Williams turned to Will. "So Officer Horton, How are you liking it here in Chicago?" He asked. "Just fine Sir." Will answered him. "Is Detective Kiriakis teaching you all of his tricks?" Captain Haskins interjected.

Sonny nearly choked on coffee that he had just sipped, and Detective Williams practically cackled out in glee.

"Umm yes sir… he sure is, I am learning a lot." Will said.

Sonny continued to cough, until Detective Williams went over and pounded him on the back. "You okay man?" he asked laughing. Sonny nodded, catching his breath..

He was eternally grateful when the door opened and a flurry of activity took the attention from him.

Agent Threadgill, and Garth walked in at the same time, Garth being his usual self was talking a mile a minute… and Agent Threadgill, even with all of his training as a profiler looked like his head was spinning with all of the information being imparted to him in the span of 60 seconds.

He opened his mouth to ask a question, but Jensen spoke first. "Garth…. If you wouldn't mind, the rest of us need the information too, so maybe you can start from the top." They all took a seat around the table and waited for him to begin.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" Garth said, moving to the picture board and haphazardly pulling down what was already there. He rapidly pinned the 8 or 10 enlargements that he had brought with him to the board. "Alright so here we go." He said turning to his audience, he pushed his glasses up on his nose and launched into his speech.

"We took the suggestion that the young officer made and ran with it, which was a brilliant suggestion by the way..." he interjected, "We went over the photos with a fine tooth comb, and he was 100% correct. All of the green blemishes in the photos are different sections of the same whole… We have not determined as of yet what exactly it is. If I had to guess I would say that it is a logo… some kind of writing or drawing." He pushed his glasses back in place. "I am leaning more towards letters myself. And this sick bastard whoever he is sitting back laughing because he is giving us clues and we are not seeing them." His naturally high whiny voice dropped a couple of octaves. "Those assholes are too stupid to see what is right under their noses." He mimicked. "Mark my words…" he is taunting his victims." He took the glasses off and wiped his eyes… "He is taunting these poor children telling them the police are too stupid to help them. We will continue to analyze the photo's looking for more similarities but without more to go on, I think we are at a standstill." He nodded to the captain and gathered the file that he had brought with him. He inclined his head to the photo board, "These are your copies to keep." He said before exiting the room just as quickly as he had entered, he was talking what sounded like gibberish to himself. His glasses on the tip of his nose again.

Lieutenant Williams, stood ready to leave the room, and Captain Haskins followed his lead… "Let's get busy and see what we can dig up. We need a lead on this case." He said looking at Jensen. "Kiriakis… you and Horton will devote anytime to this case that your unit can spare you." He said looking at Sonny.

"Sir, Chief Morwessell, may not like that" Lieutenant Williams said from the door way.

"You let me worry about the Chief." Captain Haskins said. "I will take responsibility for it."

"Thank you Sir." Sonny said. "Officer Horton and I will do all we can to help."

"See that you do." He said, before turning on his heel and exiting the room.

Will sat at the table with his head in his hands. What in the hell had just happened. So much had gone on in just under 20 minutes. He was still trying to figure it all out. That strange little man with eyebrows that sat almost in his hair line, and glasses that constantly slipped down his nose, had talked faster than he had ever heard anyone talk. He wasn't even sure what the man had said. Wasn't the whole point of an analyst and a meeting to find out what they had learned from the evidence? It would take him a solid damn week to decipher what that man had said, after all the man had barley taken a breath the whole time he had been talking. And had he really heard right, had the Captain really just assigned him and Sonny to the case, sure in their free time… but it was a start.

Jensen looked over at Will. "Did you get all of that Horton?" he asked. Will looked up at him, bewildered. "Not all, Maybe not even half." he admitted.

"Yeah, Garth is more than a little strange." Jensen said, "He's actually a fucking weirdo."

Will nodded yes… and opened his mouth to add his own comment but Sonny's next words stopped him in his tracks.

"He's neat… not weird." Sonny said. "Jensen, you just can't keep up."

Any opinion that Will had formulated about him crumbled when he recognized the sound of genuine respect in Sonny's voice. If Sonny respected him then there had to be something good about the man. Will decided that he would reserve judgment until he knew him better.

Sonny turned to Will, "I know it is our off day, but I thought since we are unofficially, officially back on the case then we could go and see if we can track down a couple of leads. We could go and talk to some of the older Victims… see if they remember anything."

"Absolutely" Will said, "I may need to change into my uniform though."

"Nah, just grab your weapon and badge." Sonny said. "I will meet you at the patrol car."

Will nodded and left the room. His badge and weapon were locked in the glove box of his car, so he headed on out to the garage.

Sonny grabbed a couple of the pictures off of the board and stuffed them into a file folder and then signed into the computer and printed off a list of the victims' names and addresses. He stuffed that into the folder as well.

"Jensen, Will and I are going to track down a few people to talk with, we need to see if there is anything that we are missing." He said.

"Fine." Jensen said, "Keep me updated on whatever you come up with."

"You got it!" Sonny said.

He was almost out the door when Williams put his hand on his chest… "Hold up there lover boy." He said.

"What are you talking about?" Sonny said, looking at him cautiously.

"I just had the funniest little conversation with Officer Riley" Williams said. "Jensen you gotta hear this."

Sonny groaned... He knew what was coming. Apparently Officer Riley didn't know how to keep his damn mouth shut. "It wasn't..." He began.

"It wasn't... what exactly?" Williams teased. "I would love to know exactly what it was." He said raising an eye brow.

Sonny felt his cheeks grow warm. A deep red flush covered his face and neck. "Can you just drop it?" He asked. "It's really not what you are thinking."

Jensen was now paying attention to the conversation. Of course Sonny thought... When he should be paying attention he was lost in space... Other times he had his nose planted firmly in other people's business... "What are you two going on about?" He asked, walking over to join them.

"Apparently our buddy Sonny decided to go on a little stakeout last night." Williams said grinning at Jensen.

"Oh?" Jensen said. "Did you come up with anything new?" he asked looking at Sonny.

Sonny's face reddened even more. "Actually we ..." he began.

"Boy did he!" Williams said over whatever Sonny had been about to say. "Guess who was on patrol last night on the east side... And Guess who saw a parked car with fogged windows and decided to investigate."

"You?" Jensen asked looking at Sonny. Sonny just shook his head in answer. "NOPE!" Williams said gleefully. "Kiriakis here was more like the subject of said investigation."

"Go ahead... you may as well tell him." Sonny said, narrowing his eyes at Williams, "Get it out of your system and then I don't want to hear another damn word about it." he practically growled.

"Somebody just tell me what in God's name you two are going on about." Jensen said, growing tired of Williams antics.

"WELLLLL... Officer Riley was the officer, you know the young officer down in precinct 6… the cute one?" Williams said… "He went up to said vehicle and guess who he found in a very heated embrace." Williams said.

Jensen pointed to Sonny. "You?" he said... "Seriously Sonny?" Sonny just nodded again. "I'm afraid so" he said. "Now if you guys don't mind..." He said trying to push by them.

"No wait!" Williams said, there's more. "Guess who it was with?" he said directing the question to Jensen.

"How am I supposed to know?" he complained, "I have spent so much time here, I have hardly had time to even see Melody and worry about my own sex life, never mind sit around and think about yours or his." Jensen said jerking his thumb toward Sonny.

"Officer McHottie." Williams said.. rocking back and forth on the heels of his shoes.

"No Shit?" Jensen said. "That's great, good for you man, you seem to like him a lot more than you did… Maybe you can get this crush out of your system." he said. "What?" Williams asked... "Don't you get it... that was why he didn't want to help me out... he wanted Will all for himself." Williams pouted. "Not true." Sonny protested... "It was just something that happened in the heat of the moment... you know when we needed a good cover."

"Nice try, My man.." Williams laughed. "Riley said you tried to sell that story to him too but there was absolutely no one on the street at the time he caught you. In fact he told me that he was bored and knew what was going on in that car... or should I say what was fixing to go down in that car and decided to have some fun at some poor schmuck's expense... But then he also said that he almost pissed his pants when the 'Poor Schmuck' turned out to be you."

"Good enough for the bastard." Sonny said. "What kind of beat cop is he anyway, he should have run my plates before he ever approached that car." Jensen laughed at that, "Someone is a little bitter."

"Shut the hell up." Sonny said... just as Will came back up the hall. "Hey, I thought you forgot about me." he said as he walked up."Not a chance of that happening, Hot Stuff." Williams said. "What?" Will said, his eyes widening.

"Ignore them." Sonny said, "Let's get out of here." he grabbed Wills arm and practically drug him down the hall. Once they were safely inside the elevator, Sonny slumped against the back wall."You wanna tell me what that was about?" Will asked. "That was about a certain Officer that can't keep his fucking mouth shut." Sonny said, "Riley has probably blurted out that story all over the place. He said looking at Will. "I'm really sorry."

"Don't be sorry on my account." Will said. "I could care less."

"Yeah?" Sonny asked.

Will nodded. "Doesn't make me one bit of difference."

Sonny grinned, "You're pretty awesome!"

"Yeah!" Will teased, "Too bad it took you almost a month to figure that out."

Sonny threw back his head and laughed... "Let's go get some work done and maybe tonight I will take you out."

"Then by all means lead the way..." Will said, just as the doors to the elevator slid open.


	10. Chapter 10

"Sooo." Will said, "Just curious…when you said you would take me out, were you talking about a date?"

Sonny pulled into the street, and turned toward the downtown area.

"Well I was kind of hoping that it would be a date." Sonny said, glancing at him, flashing a smile.

"Me too!" Will agreed, clasping his hands in his lap to keep from reaching out and touching Sonny. He could hardly believe how far they had some in just a few days. Then his mind began to wonder about where things could lead in a few short hours.

Will cleared his throat, "Where are we headed?" he asked, directing his attention elsewhere before he ended up in serious trouble.

"I thought that we would start with a couple of the first girls that were found. One of them is almost 6 years old and may remember something that could help us."

"Okay." Will said. "How long ago?"

"Almost 6 months now." Sonny said shaking his head. "Allessandra is the first victim, of the ones that we are sure Bennett had something to do with.

"So you have been building the case for 6 months?" Will said.

"Unfortunately yes.." Sonny said, "Luckily there were a couple of breaks in that 6 months, breaks with no victims I mean. After we found the first one, we found one a week for the next 3 weeks… then nothing for 3 weeks, until it started all over again, and we found two girls in one week, then one a week for the next two weeks… then nothing until Dakota… that was when I made the mistake and busted in before I knew for sure I had the warrant, and now that sorry bastard is free to do the same shit to someone else's kid, and he has already victimized one girl and is probably looking for another one right now." Sonny's voice cracked. He could not stand the thought of what was happening because of his hastiness.

"Hey" Will said, unable to stop himself from reaching over and placing his hands over Sonny's. "None of this is your fault, you do know that right?"

Sonny shook his head, "Of course at least some of it is. "I should have waited…. I could have stopped him."

"You did what you thought was right." Will insisted. "Stop beating yourself up for it."

"This should be the place." Sonny said, pulling into a driveway and cutting the engine. "This was the first victim and she is one of the oldest. Let's just hope that she remembers something that can help us out."

Sonny opened his door and stepped out. He and Will walked up to the door and Will pressed the doorbell.

An attractive young woman opened the door. The security chain was in place. "Can I help you?" She asked through the crack in the door.

Sonny flashed his badge. "Detective Kiriakis and Officer Horton to see Mrs. or Mr. Harrington." He said.

The door closed briefly and they heard the chain being removed from the door, before the woman opened it wider. "Please come in gentlemen." She said moving aside so they could enter. She showed them to a sitting room. "Mr. Harrington is at work right now, and Mrs. Harrington is lying down, if you will excuse me a moment I will ask Mrs. Harrison to come down and speak with you."

"Take your time." Sonny said.

The woman disappeared from the room, leaving Will and Sonny alone. Will took a seat on the edge of the love seat, while Sonny wandered the room looking at pictures that graced the wall. He pointed to one of them "That's her…" he said. Will got up and walked over, examining the picture. She was a beautiful little girl, with blonde bouncing curls and brilliant green eyes. "She is a little beauty queen." He said, his heart breaking for her.

"What can I do for you gentlemen today?" came a voice from behind them. They both turned around, Will took in the haggard fragile looking woman in front of him.

"Ma'am we are very sorry to barge in here today." Sonny began, "But we need to ask Allessandra a few questions about her abduction"

"I don't think that is a good idea." She said. "She has continual nightmares, she cries, she is withdrawn from all of her family and you want to reopen all of those horrible memories."

"I am very sorry but we need to see if she remembers anything that she may not have told us, I promise that I will be as careful and as respectful as I can." Sonny said.

"I think I need to talk to my husband first…" She said. "I am afraid that I have to ask you to leave."

"Mrs. Harrington." Will said. "I know this is scary and that you want to protect your daughter, but can you please just think for a minute about all of the other little girls that your daughter may be helping if she remembers anything. With the least little detail she may be able to prevent the same thing from happening to one of her friends or neighbors, another child her age or even younger."

Mrs. Harrington wiped a tear from her face. "Just a minute." She said, turning to the young lady that had let them in. "Jennifer, would you please bring Allessandra in here, and stay with her while the officers speak with her." She ordered.

Jennifer nodded. "Yes Ma'am" she said disappearing from the room again.

Mrs. Harrington turned to them, "If you would excuse me, I will be out on the patio in the back, should you need me after you have spoken to my daughter. Please forgive me, but I don't think that I can be in here while you talk to her about the awful things that happened to her."

"We understand." Sonny said. "Thank you for allowing us a few minutes with her."

She nodded and left the room. Sonny and Will waited again, until Jennifer came back into the room. She led a pale young girl with her that bore little to no resemblance to the vibrant girl in the picture they had studied.

Sonny's breath caught in his throat and he had to blink back tears.

Will glanced from the child to his partner, his rigid frame radiating sorrow and guilt. Will's heart broke for his partner and he sent up a little prayer for healing for the child and her family, hoping against hope that she could give them one little detail that they didn't have before. Please God, don't let us be dredging up all these horrible memories for nothing, he thought.

Jennifer led her over to the sofa and sat down, pulling the girl down beside her. Sonny realized that the child may not recognize him from before, and was staring at them with large wary eyes. He walked over and knelt on the floor in front of her. "Hi Allessandra, I am Detective Kiriakis… Do you remember me?" She nodded her head, a slight yes.

"Good. You can just call me Sonny, If you want to" He said, smiling at her. "This is my partner Officer Horton, but he likes to be called Will."

She looked at Will, barely acknowledging him before turning back to Sonny. "Is it okay if I ask you a couple of questions?" he asked her.

"I guess so." Came the small voice of the child.

Sonny smiled at her. "Can you try to remember the time when that man took you away from your mom and dad?"

Allessandra nodded slightly and reached out to clutch Jennifer's hand. Sonny noticed that Jennifer wrapped her fingers around the little girls tightly.

"Do you remember anything about the place you were taken to?" Sonny asked her. "Is there anything that made it different?"

Allessandra sat very still and quiet... Sonny gave her a minute, waiting to see if she was going to answer. It was only a moment before her eyes slid closed and a single tear slipped from the corner of her eye.

"It was cold there." She whispered. "I cried for my blanket." Her body shook involuntarily.

"I'm sorry" Sonny whispered not trusting himself to say more.

"He got real mad at me when I didn't stop crying.." Alessandra continued. "He screamed at me to shut up..." "He said if I didn't shut up he would hurt me really bad. I heard it three times.. Even after he stopped screaming."

Sonny was confused... "What do you mean honey? When you say after he stopped screaming... Do you mean he told you again softly... In his regular voice?"

She shook her head... "No it was loud too, but it sounder far away."

Sonny looked at Will… who shrugged his shoulders. Will crouched down beside Sonny. "Do you remember if the place where he took you was like a house?"

Allessandra shook her head again. "No, it wasn't a house it was cold there... and big. There wasn't any furniture there… and no TV."

"Nothing?" Sonny asked.

"Just him..." She said starting to sob. "And his picture camera... "He told me to take off my clothes and I ran away from him... I ran as fast as I could, but the door was big and heavy. I couldn't open it. That's when he got really mad. He threw me on the floor and I hit my head." She turned her face into Jennifer's body. Her body shaking with the sobs tearing from her throat.

Sonny reached out and out his hand on her arm... he winced when she recoiled from his touch." Allessandra cowered further back onto the couch until he pulled his hand back... "I'm sorry Allessandra." He said holding up his hands. "Thank you very much for talking to us.. You are a very brave little girl." He said.

"You are going to put him in jail... Aren't you?" She asked, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"We are doing our best sweetie." Sonny said.

They rose off of the floor, and Sonny nodded to Jennifer. "Thank you for being with her while she talked to us."

"I hope you catch him." Jennifer said helping Alessandra from the couch. "Come on sweetie let's go wash your face." She said.

They were almost out of the door when the little girl turned back to look at Sonny... "When I was trying to get away I saw there were words written on the floor... But I couldn't read them they were written in curly letters and the floor was shiny like it was wet..." She said before she walked out of the room.

Sonny fled the room, going out the front door and to the car. Will was left standing there in the living room alone his mind was reeling. He was undecided on what to do, but eventually went to the patio door and stuck his head out. "Mrs. Harrington, we are leaving now, thank you for your time."

She turned to look at him, her face still wet from her tears, "Did you get anything that will help you officer?" She asked.

"Yes ma'am I think we may have. Please let us know if there is anything that we can do." Will said awkwardly.

He turned and hurried out the front door. When he got to the car Sonny was hunched over the steering wheel, loud sobs were tearing from his throat. His body was racked with grief.

Will scrambled into the car and pulled Sonny into his arms... "It's okay..." He said. "We will get him." Will promised him.

It took a few minutes but Sonny pulled himself together, sitting up and wiping his face. "We should go." He said, and Will could tell that he was embarrassed. He decided to help him out, and redirect his focus. Besides his mind was flying with the last thing that Allessandra had told them.

"What did you think about what Allessandra said about the writing on the floor?" Will asked Sonny.

"Hmmm" Sonny said. "She pretty much confirmed what you had already figured out. There was writing and she called it curly writing…. Do you think that she could be talking about cursive writing?"

"Could be… or at the very least, I would say that it is fancy writing." Will said. "Where in the world would we find a place that has fancy or cursive writing that big?"

"I'm not sure." Sonny said, "I have been racking my brain since you come up with the idea."

"We will figure it out." Will said, with more confidence than he felt.

"I hope so." Sonny said. "And I hope to God that happens before that bastard does something like this to someone else's daughter."

"I hope so too." Will agreed. "I can't imagine how people could do such horrible things to children. It is bad enough when horrible things happen to adults, but it is a whole different kind of sickness when a child is involved."

"I know.." Sonny said. "This case is killing me, the sooner we can get him behind bars, the happier I will be."


	11. Chapter 11

Sonny was rushing around so he wouldn't be late... He had dropped Will off just a couple of hours earlier so that he could shower and change, and went home himself to do the same thing.

Jensen had called wanting a report on the case, so he walked him through the talk with Allessandra and what she had been able to tell them. Then they tossed around a few ideas about the lettering.. that she seemed to think was on the floor. Jensen suggested they go back and talk to her again, but Sonny wasn't fond of the idea. He wanted to go and talk to one more of the girls, the only eight year old that had been taken. They had stopped by her house today, but no one was home.

He had been on the phone for almost an hour and a half, and was supposed to pick Will up in less than one hour. He had to get a move on or he really was going to be late.

"Jensen... look man I gotta go." Sonny said. "I am kinda in a hurry tonight."

"Hot Date huh?" Jensen joked.

Sonny laughed. "Something like that, Talk to you later?"

"Oh no... you are too eager to get off this phone, What exactly do you have going on tonight?" He asked.

"Nothing, Will and I are going to Kelly's to get a couple drinks." Sonny said, "No big deal."

"Are you seriously going to date him?" Jensen asked.

"I never said it was a date." Sonny quipped, "I said we were going to get a couple drinks."

"You never said it was, but you aren't denying it either... You know you are his superior officer, right?" Jensen warned.. "Besides you hated the guy remember?"

"I never hated him, I was mad and I took it out on him." Sonny said. "And technically, I am just an officer like him... remember I got demoted."

"Come on man, you know the Lieutenant didn't want to demote you." Jensen said, "Don't give him a reason not to promote you back to detective."

"Thanks Buddy, but why don't you let me worry about my personal life and you worry about you and Melody.. okay?"

"Fine, but I hope you know what you are doing." Jensen conceded. "Talk to you later." Sonny pressed the end call button and looked at his watch. He was supposed to be knocking on Will's door in exactly 20 minutes. "Damn it." he swore.

He typed up a quick message to Will. "Sorry, ran late, be there in 40 minutes." He tossed the phone on the couch and went to the bedroom. He pulled his favorite pair of black jeans and a blue polo shirt from the closet and ran into the bathroom to shower.

Once he had gotten a quick shower Sonny jumped out and put his clothes on. He towel dried his hair the best he could and rubbed some bed head freeze gel in. He sprayed on some cologne before rushing into the living room, grabbing his keys and phone... He stopped to look at the screen... No missed calls and no texts...

"Damn it." He swore... He hoped that Will had gotten his message and knew that he was running late. Hopefully Will would not answer the door in the buff tonight. Chances are they would be staying in if that happened. Not that he himself would complain about that, but he didn't want Will to think he was a total slut.

He rushed out of the apartment and drove the couple of blocks to Will's apartment building. He took a deep breath and climbed out of the car.

Will opened the door, just as he had been about to knock. "Hey!" Will said. "Hey." Sonny breathed, taking in the sight of Will dressed in a pair of painted on jeans and a black tee under an open button down. "Wasn't sure you got my text." He said.

"Yeah, sorry I just got it a few minutes ago… I was on the phone with family from back home." Will said in way of explanation.

"Ready to go?" Sonny asked.

Will nodded and stepped out, pulling the door closed behind him. They made their way down stairs and when they stopped at Sonny's car, Sonny reached down and pulled the passenger door open. Will smiled and murmured his thanks.

"So what are we doing tonight?" Will asked.

"Well, I thought that we would just go out and get a couple of drinks at Kelly's." Sonny said, "If that's okay with you?"

"Kelly's?" Will asked.

"It's the bar that most of the officers and detectives go to blow off steam." Sonny answered.

"You sure you want to do that?" Will asked. "We are co workers… and we may see a lot of people we work with there."

"If they have a problem with us getting a few drinks together… then that is their problem, Not Mine." Sonny said. "But if you are uncomfortable with it… we can go somewhere else."

"Nope doesn't bother me." Will said. "I just don't want you to get into any trouble."

"No trouble to get into…" Sonny said. "I am fairly certain that what we do on our own time is our business…."

Sonny parked in one of the three last remaining parking slots in the lot of the bar, then jumped out and went around to open Will's door. Once Will was out of the car, Sonny took him by the hand and led him inside.

They grabbed the last empty table toward the back and sat down, Then Sonny asked, "What are you drinking?"

Will shrugged, "Just get me whatever you are having." He said. Sonny nodded and turned to go to the bar to order the drinks.

Sonny ordered two Crown and cokes and then made his way back to the table. He sat the drink down in front of Will and sat down across from him.

"So how long were you in Chicago before you joined the academy?" Sonny asked.

"Just a week or so, the academy is the whole reason I came here." Will answered. "I have always wanted to be a cop, and my family wanted to make me a 'Desk' Cop. And that was not what I wanted…. So I came here for the academy and looked everywhere I could think of for a position that would allow me to stay here."

"Ahhh…" Sonny said, "I was wondering why you didn't head home right after you graduated."

"I just wasn't ready to go home and sit behind a desk." Will said, shaking his head.

"I don't blame you." Sonny agreed, "But I have to tell you that being a beat cop isn't my idea of fun either."

Will laughed… "Yeah it is intense alright."

They talked and talked, until they had been through 5 or 6 drinks apiece. The bar crowd was thinning out but it was far from being dead. Sonny looked around seeing very few people that he recognized. But he did see the D.A. over in the corner booth with one of the officers that usually worked the evidence room down at the station. Sonny hadn't realized that she knew many of the officers.

"You wanna dance?" Will asked.

"What?" Sonny asked, turning attention back to Will.

"I asked if you want to dance." Will said. "I like this song."

Sonny smiled… "Sure," He said, though he didn't recognize the music. It was a slower beat that you would usually hear in a bar.

Will stood and offered his hand to Sonny, who reached out and took it. He followed Will onto the dance floor. The way Will's pants clung to his body screamed at him, and it occurred to Sonny that there was no possible way that Will could possibly be wearing underwear.

He groaned aloud when Will turned around and Pulled Sonny to him. He wrapped his arms around Sonny's neck and Sonny had no choice but to settle his hand on Will's hips.

When Sonny grasped Wills hips, Will moved closer to him, connecting their bodies together from chest to hip.

Sonny bit his lip to keep from moaning out loud. He allowed his hands to slide on around until they were clasped together at the center of Will's back. His fingers laced tightly together, to keep them from exploring Will's ass.

They swayed to the music, it seemed to go on and on and on until Sonny was almost crazy with the desire to drag Will from the bar and back to his house caveman style. When the song finally ended they separated and walked back toward the table..Sonny was surprised to see it was no longer empty... Jensen and Melody were sitting there with Williams and a guy that Sonny had never met before...

Will's steps faltered when he noticed them.

Sonny groaned..."Me and my big mouth" he said... "I'm sorry Will. I should have never told Jensen about our date. "

Will grinned...he felt better knowing that Sonny had intentionally told Jensen that they were on a 'date'. "They are protective of you...it's cool."

"No they are nosy ass-hats... Basically is what this comes down to." Sonny said...

"What are friends for?" Will said.

"Cockblocking" Sonny mumbled under his breath, but he smiled anyway when they walked up to the table. "Well this is a surprise... You didn't happen to mention that you were coming here tonight when we talked earlier." Sonny said pinning Jensen with an accusing glare.

Jensen just shrugged. "Melody has the night off.. So we thought 'Why not?' We actually decided to make it a party... That's we called Williams and told him to meet us here."

"Right! And that's when Williams here decided to call the rent a date..." Sonny said.

"Haha very funny.. " Williams said signaling to the bartender to bring another round of drinks to the table.. "Actually Sonny, I would like you to meet Jeremy Prine, he is a fireman...Over on the north side of the city."

"Oh." Sonny said. "No wonder I don't recognize you... We don't make it out your way often." He said finished, offering his hand. They shook hands. "This is Will." He said and the other Man shook hands with Will as well.

A waitress appeared at the table with their next round. "Here we go guys!" She said. "How are you all doing? She had been working at Kelly's for as long as Sonny had been a cop and was a nice girl with 2 small kids of her own, one girl and one boy. Sonny had made sure to encourage her to keep her children close and to insist that anyone who watched them for her do the same. He wasn't the least bit surprised when she asked about the case. "You guys catch that creep... The one that was messing with those poor girls?" she said.

Jensen looked at Sonny and he nodded that he should go ahead and tell her what little bit that they could discuss. Jensen started talking about the case and Williams of course chimed in like he always does... He was incapable of staying out of anyone's conversation. Sonny listened intently for a few minutes until he felt Will's hand land on his leg. And that's when he realized that Jeremy... Williams date was chatting Will up.

"How long you been a cop Will?" Jeremy asked him.

"I just graduated from the academy a month ago." Will answered.

"I didn't think you had been a cop long... I am sure I would have seen you around at some point." He said winking at Will.

Will shifted uncomfortably in his seat and laid his hand on Sonny's leg.

"I haven't had a lot of free time since I have been here." Will answered. "Sonny and I have been working a lot."

"Oh..." Jeremy said. "That's too bad, I could show you around the city sometime if you like."

What the fuck? Sonny thought... Did this asshole seriously just ask Will out while they were on a date? "Hey Will you want to dance again?" Sonny asked.

Will turned and grinned at him. "That would be great!" He said sliding out of his chair and waiting for Sonny to get up.

They made their way back onto the dance floor which now held a few more couples, and Sonny pulled Will into his arms again. He felt the urge to brand Will as his own, and then immediately felt ridiculous to even be feeling that way... Of course Will didn't belong to him... This was after all a first date. Well the first of many if Sonny had his way... They danced close together and Sonny allowed the feel of Will's body against his to soothe him. Until they danced in a complete circle and Sonny glanced at the table to find Jeremy's eyes firmly fixated on his date's ass. He couldn't help sliding one hand from Will's hip, down over one cheek pulling Will closer.

Will's surprised intake of breath tickled Sonny's ear. "Sorry" he whispered against Will's neck...

Will separated their bodies at the top so he could lean back and look into Sonny's eyes... He grinned a little... "Umm no apology necessary." He said pressing even closer against Sonny.

Sonny couldn't help himself. He licked his lips and leaned forward covering Will's lips with his own. He didn't even have to coach Will to open up to him. He opened eagerly and their tongues mingled and tangled. The moan from Will's throat caused a delicious unfurling of desire in Sonny's stomach. His blood was rushing in his veins, pounding in his ears.

Will sighed into his mouth, and Sonny was almost delirious with the urge to drag him home, seriously like ASAP. He was lost in the moment with Will, Time stood still, well at least until they were rudely almost knocked down from behind.

He broke away from Will and turned around. "Hey watch it asshole." He said. The realized that he was looking into the eyes of D.A. Castleberry.. "Excuse you!" he said snidely.

"No excuse you!" she sneered, then turned to her companion. "Let's go." He said.

"What is her problem?" Will asked. "She seriously has some issues."

"Yeah." Sonny said, the mood was broken and he led Will back to the table.

"Man, was that Castleberry that you were just talking to?" Jensen asked.

"Yeah." Sonny said "She just about knocked us down. I have no idea what her problem is, but I have just about had enough of her attitude towards me."

Will turned to him. "Hey Sonny…. Let's not let her ruin our first date. Why don't we get out of here?"

"Sure." Sonny said smiling at him. He threw some money down on the table. "See you guys later." He said.

"Night." Will said, giving them all a little wave. He slid his hand into Sonny's and followed him out of the club.

They got to the car and Sonny opened the door and waited for Will to get in before he closed the door and went around to get in himself.

"What do you want to do now?" Sonny said.

"Well, I thought you could take me home." Will said, looking at Sonny shyly.

"Well yeah, I could but… It's early." Sonny said. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah.." Will said. "I kinda think that I would like you to take me home and maybe you could stay with me tonight?"

"OH!" Sonny said, Understanding dawning in his eyes… "Well buckle up then, we are about to break a few speed limits."

Will chuckled and clicked his seatbelt into place.


	12. Chapter 12

Sonny pulled up in front of Will's apartment building, simultaneously cutting the engine to the car and unbuckling his seatbelt. He got out and went around opening Will's door suppressing the urge to pull him from the car.

Will got out and looked at Sonny, "I hope that you don't think I am being too forward." He said. "If you do, you can forget that I said anything and we can just see each other Monday at work."

"Are you serious right now?" Sonny asked. "I sincerely hope that you aren't trying to take back your invitation."

Will chuckled softly, "Not at all." He said. "I just don't want to push you."

Sonny threw back his head and laughed loudly, "Push me! Please!" he teased.

"Come on…" Will said, grabbing his hand and leading him into the building. They got to the door of Wills apartment and he pulled a key from somewhere… and opened the door.

"Seriously Will where did you just get that key from." Sonny said before he reached out and pulled Will closer. His hands slid down over Will's derriere confirming his suspicions. "These pants are so tight, you aren't even wearing underwear… I can't imagine where you had that key."

Will grinned and pulled him closer, brushing their lips together, before settling his mouth over Sonny's. He sank his teeth into Sonny's bottom lip, then sucked it into his own mouth, soothing the sting of the bite with his tongue. Will's hand flattened against Sonny's chest and slid down to his stomach. His fingers maneuvered under the hem of the polo that Sonny was wearing, he traced a random pattern along the skin just above the waist band of Sonny's jeans. He pulled back and kissed and licked his way across Sonny's cheek to his ear. "Mmmm" he moaned in Sonny's ear as he felt Sonny's hands squeeze his ass cheeks before they moved up and slid beneath Will's shirt.

Sonny's hands were exploring the skin of his back, kneading his muscles, his thumbs gliding over the side of his rib cage. Will pulled back away from Sonny and shrugged out of the button down that he had on and grabbed the tail of his shirt whipping it over his head.

Sonny grabbed Will's hand and dragged him over to the couch, shoving him down over the arm until Will was laying on the couch in front of him. He reached over his shoulder and pulled his own shirt over his head, before he straddled Will at the knees and leaned over him.

Sonny looked at him and licked his lips before he leaned down and licked a path across the muscles of Will's sculpted abs. He stopped when he reached his belly button and dipped his tongue inside. The salty taste of Will's skin was an aphrodisiac and Sonny was sure he would never get enough. He followed the same path on the other side of his abdomen, and then continued north until he felt the hardening bud of Will's nipple beneath his tongue. He mouthed at him, sucking it, rolling it with his tongue and teeth. Taking note of the constant motion of Will's hips beneath him. Will's breath was coming in ragged gasps and at some point Will's fingers had tangled in his hair.

Sonny lifted his head and rested his chin on his hand on Will's chest. "God…." He breathed, "I have wanted to do that ever since that paramedic made you take your shirt off the other day."

"Don't stop." Will managed. "You feel so good."

Sonny rubbed his cheek across Will's chest. "So do you." He said pressing hot open mouth kisses down the center of Will's chest. The he sat back on his heels, straddling Will's knees again. His fingers trailed down Will's chest and stomach until they reached the button of his jeans. He worked the button loose and pulled the tab of the zipper down. Sonny pulled his bottom lip between his teeth, nibbling on it. The goodie trail of blonde hair that led into Will jeans, teased him, showing him a preview of what he would find when he pulled those jeans off.

Will's hands began an exploration of their own, his fingers dancing over the taut muscles of Sonny's stomach. He traced all the ridges and valleys. Will maneuvered himself up until he was sitting up facing Sonny, putting his hands on Sonny's shoulders one of the creeping up until his fingers were able to twist in his hair. He pulled Sonny's head back and sucked the skin at the base of his throat. He nibbled along Sonny's collar bone, sucking a small purplish bruise into existence.

Will's mouth on his neck, his tongue dancing a rhythm on his skin was bliss. "Yesss." Sonny panted.

Will's free hand moved over Sonny's arm squeezing the muscles of his bicep. Moving down over his chest, his thumb brushed over Sonny's nipple, feeling it tighten into a tight little bud.

Sonny shivered, and couldn't help the animalistic sound that came from his throat. He pushed Will back onto the couch again, and reached down to trace the outline of Will's erection through his pants. He worked at Will's pants, urging them down until they were just below his ass, until his erection sprang free.

Sonny put his hands on his own knees and just took in the beautiful sight before him. "God, you are so beautiful." He whispered.

Will's chest heaved, his breath coming in quick gasps. His eyes half closed with desire.

Sonny wrapped his fingers around Will's shaft. Will's skin felt like the softest velvet stretched over hot steel. He slid his hand up and down a couple of times experimentally. Will's hips jerked in reaction and a bead of pearly white liquid escaped from the tip. Sonny swiped it with his thumb and smeared it into his skin. He worked Will with his fist until there was a river of cream flowing from him, spilling over Sonny's hand. He caught it using it for lubricant. Will's hips thrust upwards in cadence with Sonny's hand. His head pushed back into the couch... His hand grasping the edge of the table, knuckles white... A constant stream of oh's and ah's pouring from his lips.

The sight of Will, the sounds he was making, the feel of his beautiful c... Under his fingers were all playing havoc with his control. He was rock hard and getting uncomfortable in his own jeans.

He slid as far back as he could on Will's legs without falling off of the couch. "Will..." He said on a shaky breath.. Will's head thrashed side to side, but he didn't acknowledge that Sonny had spoken to him.

Sonny stilled his hand, keeping it in place at the base of Will's cock.

Will's breathing slowed... And he rolled up on his elbow... "What?" He asked. "Sonny?" He asked.

Sonny looked into his eyes... "Will... I have to taste you." He said.

Will's eyes widened... And then clouded over... He licked his lips, and nodded his consent.

Sonny leaned down and flicked his tongue over the tip of Will's erection. The salty flavor of Will's cream burst on his tongue. Sonny took the head into his mouth and hummed around it. Will's hips shot up off of the couch... His erection slid into the back of Sonny's throat. Will's body felt limp and heavy... Well all except for that one area... His muscles quivered with the energy it took to hold him up but he was enraptured by the sight of Sonny's head bobbing up and down on him. His cock disappearing again and again into Sonny's mouth. It was maybe the sexiest sight he had ever seen and he couldn't pull his eyes away from that sight.

Sonny worked his mouth around Will, swallowing the juices that flowed from him. He used his hand to tease his balls, rolling them in his fingers, squeezing them gently.

"Aaaaghhhh!" Will cried out... Shoving Sonny off of him scrambling backwards on the couch... His chest heaved as if he had just finished running a marathon...

The confused look on Sonny's face, along with his cherry pink swollen lips... was just about the death of Will.

Sonny wasn't sure what to do... What to think. He reached up and wiped his mouth with his hand... catching the escaping liquid that had flowed down his chin when Will had unexpectedly moved. Then he reached out to Will... "Will... Are you OK? Did I hurt you?"

Will shook his head adamantly... "God…No..." He said quickly. "I just...I was going... I wasn't ready for it to be over."

Sonny grinned... "Me either... And this is a long way from over." He said.

Will nodded... "Bedroom?" He asked.

"Oh yeah!" Sonny said. He got up and looked down at his pants. There was a wet spot on the front of his jeans...

"Looks like we need to get you out of those." Will teased.

Sonny just grinned sheepishly.

Will stood from the couch pushing his pants on down from his hips. He toed off his shoes and kicked the pants on off leaving them in a pile on the floor. He stood still there for a moment.. Waiting for Sonny to say or do something.

Sonny basked in his first un-obscured view of Will's glorious body. This time there was no towel around his hips, no dish towel for him to use as cover. Sonny was rooted to the spot... No sight he had ever seen compared to Will.

Will had taken a couple of steps and turned to see that Sonny was still in the same spot... staring after him.

"Like what you see?" He asked Sonny... Turning a slow complete circle to give him an opportunity to look his fill.

Sonny nodded and moved toward him...

"Come on hot stuff... Let's go take care of that." Will said eyeing the bulge in Sonny's jeans.

Will led the way to the bedroom, and pushed the door open. He walked straight to the bed and jerked the comforter off... tossing it in the corner. The bed was covered in black silk sheets. Sonny licked his dry lips. Will was seriously sexy... The sight of him totally comfortable in his nakedness, was an aphrodisiac.

Will sauntered up to him and traced Sonny's lips with his index finger. then trailed that same finger down over his chin, slowly making his way down Sonny chest until he was at the button on Sonny's pants. He worked it loose and slid the zipper down.

He pushed Sonny's jeans and boxers from his hips.. pushing all the way down until they were at the floor. Sonny hurriedly kicked off his shoes and toed the pants off. He stepped out of them and nudged them to the side with his foot.

Will kneeled in front of him, and wrapped his hands around Sonny's ankles. His hands journeyed up Sonny's calves, kneading his muscles continuing up the back of his thighs... while he kissed and licked his way up the front of his leg, scraping his teeth over Sonny's inner thigh. Will felt empowered when he felt Sonny tremble under his efforts.

Sonny moved his hand to the back of Will's head. Will looked up at him. "My turn to taste you." He said, grasping Sonny's hip with one hand and his dick with the other, his tongue darted out and made a slow swipe across the head tasting the cum that had already leaked from him.

Sonny's fingers tightened in his hair and his head fell back. "Fuck, that's good." He groaned.

Will needed no extra encouragement. His fingernails dug into the soft skin of Sonny's hip. He took Sonny into his mouth his tongue flattened against him. He used the hand on Sonny's hip to encourage him to move, urging him until he got the idea and started surging into Will's willing mouth. Will closed his eyes and relaxed his throat. Will's fingers relaxed and explored the gentle slope of his ass cheek, sliding between them and brushing over his entrance.

Sonny's grunted, his hips jerking forward, his fingers tightened in Will's hair... His climax was coming fast, threatening to rip through him, he was nowhere near ready. He hungered for release but he wanted it to be inside Will. He wanted to know the feeling of being buried inside his perfect body. It took almost all of his discipline to move his hips back and pull out of Will's mouth... "Will... Stop..." he pleaded.. "I want you." He said simply. "Like now."

Will nodded scrambling to his feet. "Do you want me to... Or are you" he fumbled...he wasn't sure if Sonny was a top or a bottom... Or either."

"What do you want?" Sonny asked him.

Will swallowed and looked in his eyes, hoping for a hint of what he wanted. "I'm flexible." He said.

Sonny snickered. "I bet you are." He said, "I really want to be inside you…" he said, "If's that's.." his words were cut off when Will jerked him forward kissing him, stroking their tongues together. Will kissed him until he could not think, couldn't function… he was senseless.. Then Will backed away from him and climbed onto the bed, crawling away from him… giving Sonny the most delicious view of his ass. Sonny scrambled onto the bed behind him. Grabbing Will's ankle and jerking him back. On the Silk Sheets Will slid easily around. Sonny positioned Will beneath him. Kissing his face, sucking his earlobe into his mouth biting it gently, licking a hot path down his neck…

Will was squirming beneath Sonny, moving his neck to the side to give Sonny room, but also sliding away from him, pushing himself with his feet, until his head was almost hanging off of the side of the massive bed.

"Sonny grabbed him, tickling his side in the process… "Where do you think you are going?"

Will giggled pulling away from Sonny and flipped over on his belly. He pulled open the drawer on the bedside table and reached inside, pulling out a bottle of lube and a foil packet. He went to flip back over… but Sonny pressed his fore arm down on Will's back. He grabbed the hand with the supplies in it and pulled it behind his back, then grabbed the other one and pulled it behind him as well. He leaned over… "You have the right to remain silent." He whispered…"If you think you can that is." He teased him.

Sonny took the bottle of lube and the packet from Will's hand. He ripped the packet open with his teeth and rolled the condom on over his rigid member, then squeezed a generous amount of lube into his hand, he mewled out loud with the stroke of his own hand gliding over his cock.

Will made another attempt to turn over, he wanted to see the look on Sonny's face. The sexy sound that tore from his throat caused his stomach muscled to clench with desire.

"Na huh.." Sonny said, "I want you just like that…. Just lift up for me, on your knees…" he ordered.

Will hurried to obey Sonny's command, lifting his ass in the air. His whole body jerking when Sonny brushed his thumb over his entrance before pushing a finger inside, almost immediately adding a second. He scissored them open, stretching Will, preparing him. Will was rocking back into his fingers, his body begging for more. Sonny pulled his fingers away and lined himself up at with Will's entrance sinking into his heat.

Sonny bit into his lip in an effort to hold the scream of pleasure threatening to rip from his chest. As soon as he was buried as deep as he could be in Will's body he held every muscle in his body rigidly still. Giving Will a minute to adjust to him.

"Sonny…." Will almost sobbed… "For the love of God…. Please move."

"Ummm" Sonny said, his jaw taut, he was clenching it shut… "Will…. This is gonna be fast and hard…" he said… "I… we… sorry" he said, "We have to take it slow next time.."

Will nodded furiously… "Do it…. Now… Please…" he said.

Sonny let go of his control. He grabbed Will's hips and began to move. He pounded into Will over and over again… Until he was covered with a fine sheen of sweat and Will was sobbing his name… He felt Will's entire body go rigid, and his muscles tightened even more around Sonny, until he felt like he was caught in a white hot vise grip…. Long thick jets of cum erupted from Will, painting the sheets with their milky color. The sound of Will, moaning and sobbing his name… the feeling of being encased in his heat, the movement of Will's hips still rocking back to meet him, thrust for thrust ripped his climax from him and he emptied himself into Will. Finally unable to hold himself up any longer he pulled out and lay back on the bed pulling Will until he was draped over Sonny's chest.

Will laid across him, gasping from breath, and pressed a kiss to Sonny's chest. "WOW." He said.

"That was definitely more than WOW." Sonny giggled.

"Soooo did I really hear you say, 'Next time'?" Will asked.

Sonny threw his arm over his eyes…. "You cannot be serious right now." He said laughing… "But ummm Yeah I did say that."


	13. Chapter 13

Will awoke to the ringing of a telephone. He reached out and picked up the handset beside his bed. "Hello" he mumbled sleepily, his greeting was met with a dial tone and the ringing continued. Sonny was snuggled up to his back, his arm curled around Will's waist and Will could feel his breath tickling the back of his neck.

He hung up the phone and sighed... he really did not want to get out of bed and disturb Sonny but it didn't seem like whoever was calling was going to give up. He managed to hold Sonny's arm up and scoot out from under it. He moved to the edge of the bed and reached for his jeans, but they weren't there. Then he remembered they were he in the living room in front of the couch, he got up and padded into the living room. He found his pants, but the ringing had stopped by the time he picked them up. He pulled his phone from the pocket, and pressed the button to check his missed calls but he didn't have one.

"Damn it." He said as the ringing started again. He turned around looking for the phone and finally saw Sonny's phone, it was lying on the floor at the end of the couch. He picked up the phone and walked back toward the bedroom. Jensen was calling for the second time and the clock on the phone told Will that it was just after 6am.

Will sat down on the side of the bed. "Sonny..." he called softly. He ran his hand down the other man's back. "Wake up gorgeous."

"Seriously Will?" Sonny said, "Again... it isn't even daylight yet." he teased.

"Welllll..." Will said slowly, "Not that I wouldn't enjoy another round, because I'm sure I really would, but your phone was ringing... it was Jensen and he has called twice. I think it may be important."

Suddenly Sonny was all 'cop'. He sat up and adjusted the sheet around his waist, before taking the phone from Will. He immediately dialed the number back. As soon as Jensen answered Sonny cut him off. "Sorry I missed the call, what do you have?"

Will pulled on some boxers and moved into the kitchen. He put on a pot of coffee. From the look on Sonny's face, he knew that it was going to be a long day. Sonny's features were set in a scowl, as he listened to whatever Jensen was saying.

Will stretched as he waited for the coffee to percolate. He had the most delicious aches... virtually everywhere. Today they would serve as a reminder of their night together. He pulled two travel mugs from the cabinet and filled them with coffee adding some cream and sugar to his. He paused as he remembered that he had no idea how Sonny really liked his coffee. He had bought him that caramel kind the other day and he seemed to like it okay. Will pulled the cream from the refrigerator and poured just enough into the cup to turn the coffee a warm caramel color, then he added a couple of spoons of sugar as well. He stirred it and had just snapped the lid into place when Sonny wrapped his arms around his waist from behind. Sonny kissed his neck and Will leaned his head back against Sonny's shoulder. "Mmm Morning." he said.

"Thank you for making the coffee, we have to get going." Sonny said, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "Jensen said that Agent Threadgill wants to meet with us ASAP at the station."

"MMM Kay" Will said. "I just need to throw some clothes on and I will be ready. " He said moving out of the circle of Sonny's embrace.

"Will." Sonny said catching his hand before he got out of reach.

"Yeah" Will said, looking back at Sonny.

"Before we leave and get to this meeting and are surrounded by all of the sad details of the case and all of the victims and photographs, basically all of the bad that I have in my life right now... I want you to know that I had a really great time last night, and I loved every second of being with you." He said, laying his hands against Will's face. "And I hope that we have many more nights like that one."

Will nodded, covering Sonny's hand with his own. "I want that too." he said. He leaned forward and pressed their lips together. "Now let me go get dressed before I drag your ass back to bed now."

Sonny smiled and watched him go back toward the bedroom. Sonny grabbed one of the cups of coffee and took a small sip. He leaned back against the counter and closed his eyes, memories of the last 24 hours began poring through his mind. The date with Will, the whole thing had been perfect. His favorite part had been curling up with him, their limbs had been all tangled together and they had fallen asleep while they talked about nothing in particular. That was something that he had never really done with anyone else, nothing he had even wanted to do with anyone else.

Minutes later Will came from the bedroom wearing Jeans and yet another button down, shoving his wallet and phone in various pockets. He grabbed his badge from the bar and looked expectantly at Sonny... "Babe.. I am happy you waited for me before heading home so you could grab some clean clothes but umm, Are you going home like that?" He asked, pointing at Sonny's briefs.

"Guess I should at least put some jeans on huh?" Sonny asked, sitting the now almost empty cup on the bar. He sauntered into the bedroom and picked up his pants, shoving his legs in. He jerked them up and buttoned them, before pulling on his shirt. "Hey, you better bring a uniform, just in case we have to pull a shift on the street today." Sonny called to Will.

Sonny walked back into the living room and dropped onto the couch. He shoved his feet into his shoes, minus the socks. After all they were only going three blocks. "Ready." He said.

Will walked to the bedroom and pulled a hanger containing one of his uniforms from the closet before he walked back through the kitchen and grabbed his keys off the table. "Let's go then." he said as he pulled the door open and waited for Sonny to go out. They went to Sonny's house where Will waited in the car while he ran in and changed.

Once they were at the station, They hurried into the building and went straight to the conference room where the meeting was being held. Jensen and Threadgill were sitting at the table going over some reports. "Sorry to have to call you in here so early." Jensen said. "Williams should be here soon…I finally tracked him down about 20 minutes ago."

"What's up?" Sonny asked, indicating the reports on the table.

Agent Threadgill spoke up and answered the question. "We have some new evidence in the case. It's minor and it isn't much to go on but I think every little thing helps in an investigation like this."

Sonny nodded his head agreeing with him. He pulled out a chair and sat down at the table and Will sat down in the one beside him. It was only about 15 minutes before Williams burst through the door. "Sorry I am late.." he said hurrying to sit in the chair on the other side of Will.

Agent Threadgill stood up in front of the room. "Alright guys for the next few weeks you will all be taking your orders from me. In light of Officer Horton pointing out the similarities in the photos that were found with the victims, and the amount of time that your analysts have spent going over those photos without spotting the lettering, I took a couple of the photographs over to some guys at FBI headquarters and had them go over them. Detective Jensen said that the victim that you met with the other day confirmed that there were words on the floor and also talked about the floor being shiny. I think we need to map out the area where all of the victims were found. We may be able to pinpoint some places in the area that would possibly have writing on the floor. Also I have sent over some of the pictures that your own crime scene technicians took of the children when they were found. I happen to think that was one of the mistakes that have been made in this case. The two groups of photos have been lumped together as if they belonged together. That is certainly not the case… the photo's that were taken by the perpetrator of the crime bear quite a bit more significance in this case. The photos from the time the little girls all disappeared and were held captive, as they were taken by this monster, offer us a window into his world. If the right people look at them they can possibly determine the real motive among other things. Today Detective Jensen will be taking me around to see the exact places where the first victims were abducted, and also where they were found. Detective Williams is going to pair up with Officer Blythe they will be going over Bennett's financial records and also they will visit his current and previous employers and get his attendance records, so that we can match them up with the dates and times that the victims were held. Detective Kiriakis, I am going to need you and Officer Horton to be Bennett's shadow. I have a feeling that he is getting ready to make his move and we don't want any more victims. Alright! Let's get to it!" he said shoving some papers into the file that he carried with him.

"Yes Sir." They all said in unison. Jensen and Threadgill left the room and Williams went to find Officer Blythe, he was one of the officers that usually worked with the 5th precinct but floated where ever the department needed extra help.

Will got up and walked to the picture board. He spent some time looking at the pictures of the girls that were taken before they had been abducted. He shook his head sadly, thanking God that for right now he wasn't a parent. He could not imagine what the parents of these children had been through.

"Come on Babe.." Sonny said. "Let's get out there and see what we can do." They were on their way out of the station when the Captain spotted them. "Kiriakis, Horton…. Get in here." He called.

Sonny and Will walked into his office. "Sir?" Sonny said. "You wanted to see us?"

"I just wanted to tell you that I am ordering a search of Bennett's car. I am waiting for Castleberry to bring me the warrant right now." He said. "I am going to make sure that I have it in hand before we move."

There was a knock on the door of the captain's office. "Captain, my office said that you wanted me to deliver this over personally." Castleberry said as she walked in the door. He eyes flashed with anger when she saw Sonny and Will standing beside his desk. "What are they doing here?" she said snidely before handing him the envelope she carried.

"They are here discussing details of a case and frankly I don't see where that concerns you." The Captain said sharply. "I asked that you deliver this to me in person," the captain said opening the envelope and pulling out the contents. He turned it around to show her the search warrant. "Because I didn't want any mistakes this time. The last time you made a small mistake you almost cost the department one of the best detectives we have." He said, nodding toward Sonny. "It has come to my attention that Kiriakis called you and asked for the warrant in more than adequate time that you could have procured it if you had acted immediately."

"And just who brought that to your attention?" She shouted at him. "Did the good detective point that out to you?" she taunted, "Are you going to tell me that you are going to take that faggot's word over mine?"

The Captain flew out of his chair. "What the hell did you just say?" he asked her.

"I'm sorry… did you not know that he is a disgusting queer? Both Kiriakis and this new partner of his." she said pointing to Will. "I saw them last night at Kelly's all over each other.

Sonny stepped forward. "What business…." He began.

The captain held up his hand. "Kiriakis…. Let me handle this." He said before he turned back to the D.A. "You let me tell you something right now. Detective Kiriakis is one of the finest men I have ever known and his investigative skills are unprecedented and I will not have you come in here with your sickening comments and ridiculous old fashioned idea's. This is the 21st century and I do not judge people by their race, religion, or sexual orientation… It doesn't matter in the least to me who he goes to bed with, who he marries…. It isn't my business, nor is it yours. But I feel like it is my duty to tell you that I will be recommended that you be put on mandatory administrative leave effective immediately while your transgressions in this case are investigated to the fullest extent of the law." He said. "There will be a formal investigation by my office."

She stood there in front of his desk, stock still. "What? You can't do that…" She stammered. "You don't have the clout that it would take to get rid of me."

"I can and I will." Captain Haskins said. "And we will just wait and see how much clout I have." He said pointing to the door. "That will be all Ms. Castleberry."

She left the office slamming the door in her wake.

"I'm sorry you had to see that." Captain Haskins said. "I have suspected it for a while, but I had no idea she would confirm it that easily for me."

"That's been her problem with me….. " Sonny said. "All along she didn't like me because she found out I am gay?"

"Apparently so." The Captain said. "No what's this I hear about you two being all over each other last night at Kelly's, is there any truth to that?" he asked.

"Ummm I wouldn't necessarily say, all over each other." Sonny hedged.

Captain Haskins laughed…. "Relax.. I meant what I said, it doesn't bother me." He said, "Just make sure you keep it out of the station. While you are here and in your uniform, I will expect you to act accordingly. Is that understood?" he asked. "We don't want to give her any ammunition to use against you two. She is going to be a thorn in my side for a while."

Will and Sonny nodded. "Yes Sir." They answered.

"Now get out of here and get me some damn answers on this case." He said, "I will let you know what I find out after the car has been searched."

"Thanks Captain." Sonny said. "Let's go Will."

They left the station, on their way to the east side of the city once again. They had to find Bennett.

Sonny had been quiet since they left the station. "You okay?" Will asked him.

Sonny looked over at Will. "Yeah, I'm okay… I just can't believe it, that she would try to get me fired because I am gay. It doesn't make sense."

"Hatred makes no sense sometimes, Sonny" Will said sadly. "She may not stop there, you know she will blame you and maybe even me if she does get placed on administrative leave. She is going to be out for revenge."

"Yes, But at least they know what kind of person she is." Sonny said, "The Captain will look out for us."

Sonny looked up, glancing around the neighborhood. This was the street that Bennett lived on. "There's Bennett's car." Sonny said, pointing at a car parked in the lot in front of them. "Let's park right over there." He said directing Will to the lot across the street.

Will parked the car and they settled in to wait.


	14. Chapter 14

They had been sitting there maybe an hour, waiting for Bennett to make an appearance, but so far there had been no sign of him. Sonny was starting to wonder if he was home, even though his car was there. There was always the possibility that he could have caught a ride with someone… or that he had walked somewhere.

The front door of the apartment building opened and he came out, pulling a baseball cap on. He walked briskly to his car and got in. He sped out of the parking lot, barely even looking before he pulled into the traffic.

"Here we go." Sonny said, cranking the car and following him out of the parking lot, but making sure to stay several car lengths behind him. He didn't want to follow too closely, though they were driving an unmarked car. He didn't want Bennett to get suspicious. They followed him across town until he was over on the west side pretty near where Will and Sonny both lived. He pulled into the parking lot of a strip mall that contained maybe 20 or so small stores. Will and Sonny pulled into a parking garage across the street. They sat watching to see what he was going to do until he climbed from the car, and disappeared into one of the stores. They decided to get a closer look.

He went into the health food store and came out with a small white bag.. and then continued into the camera store that was right beside it. Bennett was in that store for maybe 20 minutes before he came out and went directly to his car. He pulled up by the door and loaded several bags into the trunk before he moved it back to another parking space. Will and Sonny watched him carefully from the ice cream shop that they had ducked into.

They sat at the table in front of the window and shared a dish of Vanilla ice cream. Sonny toyed with Will's fingers absently on top of the table. Will smiled at him across the table. "You probably shouldn't be doing that in public." Will teased. Sonny just gripped his fingers tighter. "Anyone who has a problem with it can just turn their heads." Sonny said confidently. "But the Captain said…" Will began. "Yeah, yeah I know.." Sonny said sharply, before dropping Will's fingers. It was at that moment, that Bennett came out of the Camera store. Once he emerged from the car the second time, he walked a couple of doors down to a small sandwich shop and disappeared inside. Sonny got up.. "Come on, this is our chance… he is going to get something to eat" he said. "Let's go see what he bought."

"Sonny…" Will said, grabbing his hand and pulling him around. "I'm sorry." He said as he looked into Sonny's eyes.

"No Worries…" Sonny said, "You are right anyway. It just pisses me off that I have to hide how I feel about you because of that bitch." He looked out the window again. "Come on we have to hurry."

They threw away the remaining ice cream and hurried out of the ice cream shop and into the camera shop. When they go to the counter in the camera store, there was petite blonde waiting for them. "Can I help you find something?" she asked. "Did you just help a customer in the last few minutes, about 5'11 medium build, with sandy blonde hair. He is approximately 35-40 years old?" Sonny asked her.

"I'm sorry?" She asked him, looking confused.

"Did you help the customer that I just described?" Sonny asked again.

She looked at him carefully. "I'm sorry, sir, it is our policy not to discuss the purchases of other customers." She said carefully.

Sonny reached into his back pocket and pulled out his shield, he laid it on the counter. "I'm afraid I am going to have to insist that you talk to me." He said.

"Oh." She said. "What do you want to know?"

"I need to know what he purchased." Sonny said.

"Just a moment…" She said, pushing a few buttons on the register. She printed a receipt and pulled it off of the register, sliding it across the counter to him.

Sonny looked at the receipt and began to read it. Ilford Illfosol-S Developer (Liquid), Ilford Rapid Fixer (Liquid), Rexton hyper wetting agent, photo paper, Ilford Hypam, rapid fixer. Nikon 67 MM Macro filter set. He handed the receipt over to Will. "What would those things be used for?" he questioned her.

"Well most of what he purchased would be used to for photo developing." She said. "And that last thing on the list, it is a close up lens for a Nikon Camera."

"Damn it!" Sonny said. "Let's go." He said. "We can't lose him." They hurried out of the store and Will looked in the direction of his car… But the parking space was now occupied by another vehicle.

"I think we already lost him." Will said. "He must have taken his food to go."

They hurried across the street to their car and got in. Will drove around the parking lot a couple of times, but did not see any sign of him. They drove around the next few parking lots before they started back to the east side of town. They drove around on the east side of town a little while before they eventually gave up and parked back in front of his apartment complex.

"Should we issue A BOLO for him?" Will asked. "Probably couldn't hurt anything for sure."

"Let's check in with Agent Threadill." Sonny said, pulling out his phone. He dialed the number and waited for the other man to answer. When he didn't get an answer he left a message detailing their situation and asked for a return call. After doing that he turned to Will, making sure that he could see the front door of the complex. "So tell me about yourself?" he said.

Will chuckled. "Aren't we doing this a little backwards?" he asked.

Sonny shrugged. "Well we are here, we can't go anywhere, and we can't spend the time groping each other like teenagers again. Captain would never trust us again. So we may as well learn some more about each other."

"What do you want to know?" Will asked. "Ask me anything?"

"Why did you want to work for Chicago PD, when it seems like you could have had a job back home?" Sonny asked.

"That's easy…. Because I wanted to do more than rescue stray cats, and find lost dolls… and because I needed to get out on my own. My family is great but sometimes they are overwhelming." Will answered.

"I know how that can be." Sonny said. "I happen to have the most meddlesome family."

"Sounds like our families are a lot alike." Will agreed.

"What do you like to do when you aren't busy being a cop?" Sonny asked.

"Well I haven't done a lot since I have been here but I really like puzzles and guessing games which is probably why I will make a good detective." Will said honestly.

"Boring stuff…" Sonny giggled. "Let's try this again. What do you like doing in your spare time Horton?"

"Okay Okay…" Will said, getting an evil look in his eye… One that caused a sinking feeling in the pit of Sonny's stomach. "Well I used to like puzzles and guessing games, but lately there is this guy that I have been spending my time with and the last thing on my mind has been puzzles." Will teased.

"Oh really?" Sonny teased back.

"Yeah!" Will said, licking his lips, "Lately the only thing that I can concentrate on is how badly I want to fuck this guy on every single surface in my apartment."

Sonny swallowed his groan. "Hmm, seems like you really like this guy."

"Yeah, I think I do." Will answered back.

"Well he would be a fool not to adore you." Sonny said winking at Will.

Will just smiled at him… Sonny had to work to get his mind back on the conversation. "So how old were you, when you came out to anyone?" he asked. "If that isn't too personal?"

"Not at all." Will replied. "I was actually a junior in high school, and the first person I came out to… was my girlfriend, believe it or not."

"Wow!" Sonny said, "Seriously?"

"Yep, right before prom too. You know how they always have the voting for the king and queen. Well everyone was voting me and Miranda, they wanted us to be king and queen, and she was so happy and excited. But I wasn't interested in any of that, being prom king could not have been farther from my mind. I was too busy spending all of my time daydreaming about my very male psychology teacher. That's when I knew though, that Miranda deserved better than what I was giving her. I was using her as a crutch because I didn't want to tell people that I was gay. So I sat her down and told her my secret, she was mad at first, but it all worked out in the end, and she and I were able to maintain a friendship. I especially felt better after she told me that she had been dating me to get to know my best friend better. She had a huge crush on him, and they are actually married now." Will said. "But even after telling her, I still didn't tell anyone else, not even my family until I had graduated high school." "I just spent most of my time at home alone, which is of course why I got so good at puzzles and stuff. People thought that I was depressed, but it was more like I was scared."

"That is one crazy story!" Sonny said, "But I am glad that you and Miranda were able to be friends.

"Me too! Now what about you?" Will asked…"Is there a crazy story in your coming out process?"

"NOOO nothing like yours, mine is more traumatic… well not for me, not so much anymore, but I still wonder…" Sonny said thoughtfully. "I grew up being shuffled from boarding school to boarding school, there was one that I went to that was particularly bad, the people there were all nasty and mean and I begged my parents until they finally moved me to an all boys school. I was 14, just before turning 15 and all of my friends thought that being sent to an all boys' school was the worst punishment on earth, even worse than staying at the school I hated. Funny thing was it didn't bother me any at all. I already knew I was gay, but I had never uttered a word to anyone. I met the first boy I ever truly loved there. His name was Josh and he was really great, that first semester that I was there we were inseparable. He was my first love and my first kiss… to name a few. We went everywhere and did everything together…. Until his parents came for a surprise weekend visit. Josh introduced me as his boyfriend and his dad went ballistic, they pulled him out of school on Monday and I never saw him again. His phone was disconnected, all of the letters that I wrote to him came back marked returned to sender, never opened. Then one day out of the blue I got a letter from him, telling me that while he never regretted being with me that he had made a terrible mistake thinking that he could live like that. He asked me to please not write to him anymore and said that he hoped I would find happiness one day." Sonny finished.

"I'm so sorry." Will said "Sonny, that's horrible to have your first love ripped away from you like that."

Sonny looked at Will and smiled sadly.. "It took me quite a while to get over that… And once I did I felt worse for him than I did for myself. His family basically either forced him or shamed him into living a lie. Anyway I am okay now, and for the first time since Josh… it seems like happiness may be in reach." He whispered grabbing Will's hand and squeezing it.

"I am happy to hear you say that!" Will said, squeezing his hand in return.

Will glanced past Sonny just in time to see a cab pull into the lot over at the apartment complex. "Hey Sonny." He said motioning for Sonny to look as Bennett got out and gathered a couple of small bags. Nothing like what he had purchased earlier. He said a few words to the driver and handed him a bill then the driver sped off.

"Where do you suppose his car is?" Sonny asked.

Will grinned… "I hope it is at the impound yard or the evidence yard being checked over."

Sonny looked at his watch. It was past 5 pm already. He picked up his cell and dialed Threadgill's number again, realizing that he had gotten lost in conversation with Will and he had never had a return call. Agent Threadgill picked up on the first ring. "Kiriakis…. Tell me you have got something?" he said. Sonny recounted the entire day to him. He started with the tail to the other side of town, the list of purchases and the fact that they had lost him… and finished with the fact that he had come home in a cab.

"Son of a Bitch" he muttered. "He is either damn smart…. Or he has someone on the inside of this investigation." "I am sending you some relief about 7pm for tonight but I want you back on him before the sun comes up." Threadgill said.

"Yes Sir!" Sonny said. "But you do have the car, right?"

"No, we don't have the car and apparently neither does he… he either stashed it somewhere or he sold it…. Or worse yet he set the damn thing on fire." Agent Threadgill said, his frustration was evident.

"Alright Sir, we will report in if there is anything else." Sonny said ending the call.

He looked at Will as soon as he finished. "They don't have the car either. They are sending relief but we need to be back out here before daylight in the morning."

"Alright." Will said, "We can go and get some shut eye and maybe we will have a break tomorrow."

"I hope so…." Sonny agreed. "Your place or mine?" he asked.

"Huh?" Will said. "Are we sleeping at your place or mine?" Sonny asked again.

"We both know if we stay at the same place… there is not going to be a lot of sleeping going on." Will teased him.

"Yeah, but sleep is over rated… don't you think?" Sonny said winking at him.


	15. Chapter 15

"Pizza or Chinese?" Sonny asked from the passenger seat, trolling the internet looking for takeout menus as Will drove them back toward the station.

"Why don't we go out to eat?" Will asked. "We could go get some Mexican."

"Mexican huh?" Sonny said, "I like Mexican, we could do that if you want."

"Good." Will said, "It is settled then, Mexican it is." He winked at Sonny as he pulled in and parked the unmarked car. They got out and went into the station.

"I just need to fill the Captain in on what all happened today, and then we can head out." Sonny said. "You coming?" Will nodded and followed him down the hall. They paused outside of Captain Haskins office and Sonny rapped on the door. "Come on in." Captain Haskins replied from inside. Sonny opened the door. "You got a minute?" He asked, "I just wanted to fill you in." Captain Haskins motioned him in, Sonny walked in the door and Will started to follow him.

"Officer Horton…" Agent Threadgill called down the hall, "Are you needed in that meeting or is it possible for me to see you for a minute please?"

Will nodded and held up one hand, he turned to Sonny…"Go ahead." He said. "I will see you when you are done here." He said.

Will followed Agent Threadgill into the conference room. "What can I do for you, sir?" he asked.

"I was just wondering if you would take a look at the case notes with me on a couple of cases that happened in the same area, in a time frame that was in the months preceding the case that we are currently working." He said, laying the files on the table. "There are a lot of similarities and a few differences. My gut tells me that Detective Kiriakis is right and they are related, but I have been over and over the photos and I can't find a common denominator. You seem to have a critical eye, so I was wondering what you may see."

Will nodded again. "I would be glad to take a look, I have looked at one of the pictures from the first case I believe you may be talking about. I think Sonny said it was from 6 months ago or longer, but I didn't see anything." He pulled the photos from the first file and laid them out, looking at them carefully. There were definitely no characteristics in them that linked them to the victims of the current case. They were taken in a noticeably different place, there were no odd shaped green splotches, nothing that would pass for writing. The only thing that the cases seemed to have in common was the fact that this was a beautiful child with dark chestnut colored hair that looked to be about 5 years old. Will pulled the pictures from the second file. The two sets were very similar. The young girl in the second set of photos was an angelic looking blonde that appeared to be only about 4 years old. His heart broke a little as he looked them over. He placed the two sets together side by side, and then leaned back in the chair. He closed his eyes, and took a couple of deep breaths to clear his mind. He stayed that way for a minute or two before he refocused on the pictures before him. And then he saw it…. It was so obscure that he wasn't sure that it was actually there, he rubbed his eyes and looked again. But his first instinct was correct, it was there in all 5 of the second victims photos. "Hey do we have a magnifying glass or something?" he asked, still staring at the photos.. He wished he could find a link between both of these girls and Bennett but maybe he didn't have to. Maybe there was something else that could tie these two cases together. He prayed that his job here was only to tie these two cases to the current one somehow.

Agent Threadgill nodded, "I have one right over here. What do you see?" He said handing Will the magnifying sheet. Will laid it over the first photo and then the next until he had looked at all five photographs from the second victim. "Look at this.." he said beckoning Threadgill closer. The older man leaned over his shoulder as he replaced the sheet on the first photograph, and pointed to what looked like a small crumpled piece of paper. "This is obviously an advertisement for something." Will said… "Do you see what I see?" he asked.

Agent Threadgill looked closer… "The advertisement is printed in green, in thick 'fancy' writing."

"Yeah, it is…" Will said "And it is in each one of the photos from the second victim. There isn't enough of the words to make out what it says, but I think if we magnify the words we may be able to see if the shapes of the letters are similar to what we have in the photos on the current case. It is a long shot but it is about all we have to go on."

"The difference here, is that the photos were all taken by the technicians with the special victims unit." Threadgill said. "There were no photos that were left with the victims by the abductor in either one of these cases. Do you think that this is connection between the two cases?"

"I can't be one hundred percent sure." Will said, "Hopefully when the analysts look at this, they can give us a more definitive answer. But honestly if I had to go on gut instinct alone, I would have to say it is way too much of a coincidence to be a just a coincidence." He finished.

"You are a great detective already…." Agent Threadgill said, patting Will's shoulder. "Half of being a great detective is relying on your gut instinct. Are you sure that you wouldn't like to have a job as an analyst or maybe with cyber crimes, something like that?" he asked.

"Oh no you don't" Sonny said, from his position, lounging against the door jam. "His place is going to be in Special Victims Unit working the cases with me."

Agent Threadgill couldn't help but laugh at Sonny's menacing tone…. "Understood detective." He said as he gathered all of the photos together, shuffling them into the correct folders. "I was just pointing out that young Officer Horton here is one fine detective."

"Thank you Sir." Will said. "But Detective Kiriakis is right, I belong on the streets, not behind a desk, I don't think I could take it."

"Duly noted." Agent Threadgill said, offering a hand to Will. "Thanks for all of your help today." He said. "If you will excuse me I have to go and confer with the Captain about your find." Will shook his hand. "It's my pleasure." He said. "I am happy I am able to help." Agent Threadgill clapped Sonny on the shoulder as he passed him, on his way out of the room. "Good work today son." He said.

"So what was that about" Sonny asked. "What exactly did you find?" Will stood up and stretched. "How about I tell you all about it over Dinner?" he said "Did you get finished?" He asked Sonny. "Yep." Sonny said. "I am all yours!" Will wiggled his eyebrows at Sonny… "Well I like the sound of that!" he teased, advancing on Sonny.

"Oh NO!" Sonny said. "Let's get out of here first."

"Lead the way!" Will said. "And fast."

They hurried out of the station and practically dived into Will's waiting car. When both of the doors were closed Will turned directly to Sonny grabbing him by the collar. "So you think this is far enough outside the station?" he asked.

"I think we can make it work." Sonny said breathlessly.

"Good!" Will said grinning, moving closer. "Because I have been waiting all damn day to do this." He said sealing his lips over Sonny's, immediately plunging his tongue into the darkest recesses, tangling their tongues together."

Sonny's fist twisted in Will's shirt, pulling him closer, as he moaned loudly. The kiss increased in intensity, their breathing turned ragged. Sonny's other hand went to Will's lap, running his growing erection through his jeans. Will's fingers tunneled into the thick hair at the back of Sonny's neck, using it as leverage to hold Sonny's mouth to his. The windows were getting foggier by the minute…. Until a loud thump on the hood of the car broke through the haze clouding both of their brains, wrenching them apart…. "GET A ROOM." Williams shouted as he passed on by the window, laughing hysterically.

"Shit." Sonny whispered. "Damn if I don't think, being in the car with you in a dangerous thing." He teased, looking at Will.

"We're skipping dinner." Will said, cranking the car.

Sonny concentrated on breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth. He needed to get control over his raging hormones. He couldn't remember a time when he had been so turned on by a kiss. He was headed into dangerous uncharted territory with Will. He was jealous over Will already, thinking of Will all the time, he couldn't keep his hands off of him, and he had already spent the night with him. He had slept in the bed with him, curled up to his back…Sleeping in the same bed with someone was a rarity for him, he usually didn't allow that kind of vulnerability and intimacy. He was in danger of falling in love with Will. He let his head drop back against the headrest on the seat. That was a big admission, even if it was only to himself. He needed to tap the brakes a minute and just take time to figure out if he really wanted to let this happen.

"Will.." He said. "I really think that we should go and get that Mexican."

Will pulled to a stop at the red light, and turned to look at Sonny. He tried to hide his disappointment. "Are you sure?" he asked. "I'm not really all that hungry."

"Me either." Sonny said, "But you still have to fill me in on what you and Agent Threadgill were finding in those pictures."

"Oh okay then." Will said. He took the turn that would take them to the restaurant. He was quiet on the way there, using the time to try and figure out what had gotten into Sonny in the 15 minutes that it had taken them to get back to their neighborhood. He had been all into it the parking garage back at the station. If that asshole Williams hadn't hit the hood of the car, no telling how far things would have gone right there. Then Sonny had gotten quiet and … what?

He parked the car at The Adobo Grill. Then got out and went around and opened Sonny's door. Sonny stepped out of the car and Will held out his hand to Sonny. Sonny looked at him and hesitantly slipped his hand into Will's.

Will led him into the restaurant and asked for a table for two. They were led to a booth on the outer edge of the restaurant. The hostess put menu's down before them. "Your server will be right with you." She said, before walking off. Sonny pored over his menu and finally decided on fajitas. The waitress stopped by the table and smiled brightly at Will. "What can I get you to drink?" she asked. "I just want water with Lemon." Will said. "Same." Sonny said when the waitress finally turned her attention to him.

"Are you ready to order your meals?" She asked.

"Sure." Will said. "I will just have two steak soft tacos." she nodded and turned to Sonny, "and for you sir?" she asked. "Chicken fajitas" he said closing the menu and handing it back to her. "I will be right back with your drinks." She said, disappearing to put the order in.

"So Agent Threadgill?" Sonny said. He was trying to set the tone for the conversation, and turn the attention away from himself. He could tell that Will's wheels were turning.

Will sighed and followed his lead. "He asked me to take a look at the two cases that you and I talked about before, the ones that happened before the one we are working on now." Sonny nodded and Will continued. "I looked, and I really didn't find much but I did see that in the second victim's photos there was a receipt or a flyer of some kind that may have the same logo as the writing from the current case, It was the same color and the same fancy looking writing. It's just too bad that there wasn't enough of it that we could read the writing." He explained.

"That's awesome Will." He said, "I knew if it was there you could find it."

"I just got lucky." Will said, shrugging off the praise.

Sonny grinned and shook his head. "It was more than luck…. You have an amazing eye for detail."

The waitress appeared by the side of the table and set the water glasses down between them, along with a bowl of lemon wedges. Then she leaned across the table to grab the empty napkin holder. She was leaning unnecessarily close to Will, in Sonny's opinion… Damn it Sonny thought, there was that jealously thing again. But there was no denying that she was grating on his already raw nerves. "I'll be right back with napkins for you." She said.

"Sonny…." Will began. "I have to ask, but I don't want to make you uncomfortable." He said.

Sonny swallowed nervously. He knew what Will was going to ask…. And what exactly was he supposed to say? His mind was running through the plausible answers.

"Sonny…" Will said again, pulling him from his internal monologue.

"Yeah ask me anything." Sonny said, forcing a smile.

"What happened? You know earlier… In the car…" Will asked. "I was sure that you were just as into it as I was…. And then you weren't. Did I do something wrong?" He asked hesitantly.

Sonny sighed again. Just like that, Will had torn down all of the newly constructed walls that Sonny had built. "Nope." He said, "Not at all…" He said. "It wasn't anything…"

"Wait.." Will said. "The old adage…. 'It isn't you, it's me.' Right? Is that what you were going to say?"

The waitress reappeared before Sonny could utter a word. She carried a tray that was laden with their food. She set their food orders in front of them and refilled their water glasses. She gave Sonny a cursory glance and then turned her attention to Will. "Is there anything else I can get you?" she practically purred.

"No we're good here." Will said, "But thank you." She hesitated for more than a minute before she wandered off.

Sonny picked up his fork and pushed the food around on his plate. He still wasn't sure what he was supposed to say. He decided on the truth, the last thing he wanted to do was play games with Will's feelings. He put the fork down and folded his hands together in front of him to keep them from shaking.

"Will… I…" He began.

"Sorry I completely forgot you didn't have any napkins." The waitress said, smiling at Will as she laid some on the table. Sonny had just about had enough of her. He reached across the table and picked up Will's hand, tangling their fingers together. The waitress looked at their fingers and then glanced over at Sonny. He smiled at her sweetly. She blushed and hurried off.

Sonny laughed when Will looked confused at her abrupt departure.

"Sooo you were saying?" Will prompted, feeling a little better since Sonny had reached across the table and was willingly holding his hand.

"Yeah…Will…The honest truth is that I am terrified." Sonny said.

"Of Me?" Will asked.

"No Goofy… of how fast and hard I am falling for you." He said honestly.

Will opened his mouth to respond, but closed it again when he realized that he had no idea what to say. The silence stretched out uncomfortably.

"It's okay." Sonny said, letting Will off of the hook. "You don't have to say anything you don't want to."

"Sonny.." Will said cautiously… "It isn't that I don't have anything to say, or I don't want to say it… it's more that I don't know how to say it."

"Well take your time." Sonny said. "I'm not going anywhere, I just think we should slow down."

The waitress appeared at the table, "Do you need take out containers?" She asked eyes the plates still full of food.

"Yeah." Sonny said, "That would be great." He squeezed Will's hand before letting go.

She brought the take out boxes and Will handed her his card for the bill. She took it and was back quickly handing Will the slip for his signature.

They boxed up their food in silence, and went to the car. Will drove Sonny home. His mind spinning. This was beyond his wildest dream, he hadn't even allowed himself to dream about this.

"Thanks for dinner Will." Sonny said. He leaned over and kissed Will on the cheek as they pulled into his driveway. "I was going to walk you to the door." Will teased him.

"Nah." Sonny said "I got it… see you in the morning." He rushed from the car and up the walk, willing himself to get into the house before his heart broke into a million pieces.

He knew without a doubt now, that he was in love with Will. He didn't know how it happened… or when it happened…. But it had. He just had to find some way to make Will love him too.


	16. Chapter 16

Will groaned as he threw the covers from his body. It had been a long sleepless night. He had tossed and turned all night, going over and over his conversation with Sonny last night. Sonny had practically said the "L" word, and he had sat there and said nothing. He got up and ambled toward the bathroom.

He should have told Sonny that he was falling for him too… or more accurately he had already fallen. He had started falling for Sonny the very moment that he laid eyes on him. He thought about the first few days that he had worked with Sonny. They were tense, even though he had tried everything imaginable to get Sonny to get Sonny to talk to him. He smiled as he remembered all of the nights that he spent his free time 'daydreaming' about Sonny.

He thought about what he wanted to say while he went through his morning routine and got dressed. He was going to tell Sonny the truth.. and apologize for being such a jerk the night before.

Once he was ready to leave the house he went into the kitchen and turned on the coffee maker. While he waited for it to do its job he checked his phone. Just as he figured he would find, there was nothing, no texts, no calls….

He sent Sonny a quick text… "You picking me up this morning? I made coffee."

Then he forced himself to set the phone down and walk away. He went back to the bedroom and straightened the covers on his bed. Then hurried back to his phone when he heard the beep indicating that he had a new message.

"Sure, if you want." Sonny answered his text.

"Of course I want… Hurry and I will even throw in breakfast." Will texted quickly. He was starved now that he had decided what he wanted to do. He had barely touched his food from the night before and he knew that Sonny hadn't really touched his either.

He went to the refrigerator and pulled out the butter, eggs, and cheese. Then he scrounged around until he found some ham and onions. He could make a couple of omelets out of that. He started the omelets and put some bread in the toaster, so it would save him a minute when the eggs were done. He was just about ready to put the first omelet on the plate when Sonny knocked on the door.

"It's open." Will called. He popped the button down on the toaster and turned to greet Sonny as he came in the door. "Good morning." He said smiling brightly.

"Morning." Sonny answered back. "What's all this?" He asked as Will motioned for him to sit down, and placed a plate in front of him. He turned back to the stove and poured the rest of the egg mixture in the skillet and then quickly poured Sonny's coffee.

"Just a little breakfast." Will said "I didn't have time to make anything fancy."

"I didn't know you cooked at all." Sonny said, taking the cup of coffee that Will held out to him.

"Oh you know, when I was younger I was home with my siblings more than my mom was and it seemed like she was always between husbands…. So I ended up cooking for them a lot." Will said. "I picked up a few things over the years."

Sonny took that tidbit of information, he was sure Will didn't even know he had shared and tucked it away to examine later on. "Cool." Sonny said aloud.

Will filled his plate with his food and grabbed himself a cup of coffee, before he sat down beside him at the table. "Do you cook at all?" he asked Sonny, he wanted to let Sonny finish his food before he broached the subject of last night's dinner.

"Not a lot." Sonny admitted. "A few things… but I eat a lot of take out." He confessed. "I wasn't home a lot, after I got to the age that I wanted to learn and could remember things like that. Remember I spent most of my time at boarding schools. But the cook at my parent's home did teach me how to make lasagna one time."

"Yum." Will said, "I love lasagna, you will have to make that for me one day."

"Sure." Sonny agreed. "I would love to cook for you."

When Sonny had finished eating, Will pushed his plate to the side. He reached over and grabbed Sonny's hand, holding it between both of his. "Sonny… I am really sorry about last night." He said.

"Nooo Will." Sonny said, he said moving to get up. "I told you…"

"Sonny… will you please just listen to me." Will said. Sonny looked at him, and then nodded.

"I wanted to say that I am sorry about last night and to tell you that I should never have sat there silent like that. I should have told you that I started falling for you the very second I laid eyes on you…. You know when you called me a 'suck up'. He said chuckling.

Sonny smiled as he remembered that moment. "I didn't want to like you." Sonny admitted.

"I know." Will said. "The important thing is that you know that I feel the same way about you, that you feel about me. And if you need to take it slow, then we can do that." He said.

Sonny looked at Will… He shook his head, "Will… I only wanted to slow down because I knew I was falling in love with you and I had no idea what you were feeling. This is crazy right, we have been on one date. Are you sure, I feel like I am rushing you."

"Does it matter how many dates we have been on?" Will asked. "I don't think there is a rule that says you can only fall in love after 12 dates… or any number of them really. You know sometimes people go on 50 dates and they still don't fall in love. I think that this makes us kind of lucky."

"Yeah, lucky for sure." Sonny agreed, threading his fingers into Wills. "I just want you to be sure and the last thing I want is to pressure you."

"Hey!" Will said, cupping Sonny's face with his free hand. "I don't feel pressured at all, stop worrying." Sonny nodded.

Will leaned over and pressed his lips to Sonny's for a brief minute, before he pulled back. "We should go, we have to go and pick up our unmarked car and get over to take our shift watching Bennett.

He got up and took the plates to the sink. He rinsed them out and set them in the dishwasher. He turned to Sonny. "Ready?" he asked. Sonny got up and pushed his chair under the table… "In just a minute…" he said, taking hold of Will's hand and pulling him closer. Sonny wrapped his hands around his waist and covered Will's mouth with his own. He slipped his tongue past the barrier of Will's lips and kissed him deeply. His tongue exploring every crevice of Will's hot mouth, when he was breathless and beginning to feel lightheaded he pulled back. Sonny rested his forehead against Wills. "Okay.. I am ready now." Sonny said.

"What?" Will asked…. "We can just be late…" he said, pulling Sonny toward his bedroom. "Come on…."

Sonny looked at his watch… they were already late. "Will… I hate to tell you, but we are already late. We have to go." Will groaned… "Fine." He said. "But tonight… after work… we are finishing what you just started." He said as he turned toward the door, and Sonny slapped his ass…. "You bet your sweet ass we are." He said.

Will groaned… "You just don't play fair."

"All's fair in love and war." Sonny said winking at him. "Let's go!" Will said.

They arrived at the station with less than two minutes to spare. Sonny parked his car, while Will went inside to get the keys to the unmarked car that they were assigned for the day. The cars needed to change daily to avert any suspicion.

Will had the keys in hand and was almost back to the elevator when he ran into Jensen.

"Where you off to, Horton?" He asked.

"Sonny and I were assigned Bennett. We are about to go and take our shift." Will said.

"During the day?" He asked... That makes no sense. Every move he has made so far has been at night. Jensen said. "You guys need to be in him at night."

"Well I only know what Agent Threadgill told us. He made the schedule. Maybe they are looking for something else, maybe they are anticipating that he will make a mistake during the daytime hours." Will said matter of factly.

"Yeah.. maybe." Jensen said. "Make sure you keep me informed about what all you find out.."

"Yep." Will said, making his way on down the hall. He went back to the parking garage and found Sonny talking To Chief Morwessell.

He walked up and joined them. "Hey Chief." Will said. "Officer Horton." He said in greeting. "Detective Kiriakis was just filling me in on your invaluable help with the case." Will blushed, "Whatever, he said I am sure it is an exaggeration." He said modestly. Chief Morwessell shook his head. "I doubt that. I have heard it around the office in more than one place... And besides Kiriakis here," he motioned to Sonny, "doesn't give out compliments easily."

"Well, thank you sir." Will said. "Sonny we have to get going. They are waiting for us to take over "

"Yep... We had better go. See you around Chief." He said .

They got in the car and drove across town. The pulled up at Bennett's apartment complex just as he came out the front door and climbed into a waiting taxi cab.

Will pointed to him to make sure Sonny had seen him. Sonny pulled into the same lane a couple of cars behind the taxi. Will picked up the radio to alert the other officers that they were trailing the taxi so they could go get some sleep. They conveyed to Will that until the moment he came out and got in the taxi, they had not seen him all night.

Sonny followed the cab back across town until they were back in the same area they had followed him to the last time. They passed the strip mall where he had shopped and the taxi pulled into a private parking garage about 3 miles down the road. The taxi rolled up to the guard booth and Bennett leaned out saying a few words to the guard before he raised the safety rail and the cab pulled past it... The Guard lowered the rail and Sonny pulled up to it, after the taxi had rounded the corner. He flashed his badge and the guard raised the bar with no questions.

Sonny maneuvered the car through the garage slowly until they were on the next to the last floor. He knew that Bennett had to be on the top... The taxi wasn't parked in the garage and they had not passed it on the way up. He found a place that was between two transport vans and pulled the small car into the place.

He and Will got out and walked up the ramp a little ways until they were able to see into the next level. The taxi was parked behind a small black sporty looking car. Bennett got out of the taxi and handed the driver a stack of folded bills. Will looked at Sonny... "Is that his car?" He whispered...

Sonny shook his head no... "Is he stealing it?" Will asked as the parking lights flashed indicting that it had been opened with a electronic keyless device. "Guess not." Will said answering his own question.

"I guess he has a car that we didn't know about." Sonny said. "Can you see the plates?"

Will squinted... "No, I can't make it all out." He said. Bennett opened the door and got in. The brake lights came on as he prepared to back out of the spot.

Sonny and Will hurried back to their car and Sonny backed out after he passed them. They followed him to the gate, stopping far enough back for Will to jot down the tag # SWR 6438.

They pulled out one car behind him. Sonny followed him all the way to the north side of town. He whipped into a parking spot and ducked into a small vegan restaurant tucked into the corner of yet another strip mall.

"Guess we are having brunch." Will joked as they got out and walked into the restaurant hand in hand. When the hostess asked if she could help them, Will pointed to a booth that would be behind where he was sitting. He would have less of a chance of recognizing Sonny if he couldn't see him. "We will just sit there." Will told the hostess, who looked at him and nodded dumbly.

They took the booth. Sonny took the right side and Will the left. Will could see him from where he sat. Bennett appeared to be agitated. He kept looking from the door to his watch and back to the door.

"I think he is waiting for someone." Will said he keeps staring at his watch and the door. "Wonder who he could be meeting?"

"Not sure." Sonny said. "We have not seen him with anyone else the whole time we have had him under surveillance."

The bell that was above the door jingled and Will turned his attention to the door. A petite woman came through the door, she had her blondish brown hair pulled high on her head and was clad in black lycra running pants and a jacket over what appeared to be a hot pink sports top with white and pink sneakers. She had on dark sunglasses and carried a water bottle. Will observed her as she scanned the patrons in the dining area.

She seemed to be staring right at him. He was wondering what she was looking at, until she turned her head an inch and seemed to jump when her gaze landed on Sonny... Without a word she turned and shoved her way past an older couple making their way into the door.

Sonny's attention was now fixed on the woman's retreating back... He jumped up and looked at the woman as she hurried to her car in the lot. She opened the door of her silver Sebring convertible and jumped in. When she sped from the parking lot Sonny got an up close look at her. He wondered back to the table.

"Wonder what Castleberry was doing here." Sonny said. "I know for sure she isn't vegetarian."

"Is that who that was?" Will asked. "I thought she looked familiar."

"Yeah, it was her alright.." Sonny said. "Guess she changed her mind about eating here when she spotted the two of us."

"Her loss." Will said. "Besides who cares we are working here..." He was looking at Bennett, who was getting more agitated by the minute...

"Will!" A masculine voice called over the din of the conversation of the other patrons. "It's great to see you again!" Will and Sonny turned to see Jeremy Prine, Williams' date from the other night, standing beside their table. He must have been on a break. He was dressed in his uniform.

"Hi!" Will and Sonny said in unison. "Oh hey Sonny." Jeremy said, "What are you two doing up here in my part of the city?" He asked.

Will made it a point to grab Sonny's hand twining those fingers together. "Just having brunch before we head in to work." He said.

Jeremy was about to say something else when there was a bellow of sirens from outside... "Oh, I guess that's for me.." He said "I gotta go! See you around, I hope." He said winking at Will before going out the door.

Sonny turned sideways in his seat and looked at Bennett. He pulled a cell phone from his pocket... "You're late." He growled when he answered... Sonny and Will were hoping to hear more... But that's all he said. He clicked the phone off threw a $20 on the table and stalked out of the restaurant.

Will and Sonny luckily hadn't even ordered drinks yet, so they were able to slide from the booth and follow him. He dropped into the driver's seat and peeled out of the parking lot.

Will and Sonny followed him onto the freeway. "Where the hell is he going now?" Sonny asked.

Will just shrugged. "Beats the hell out of me."


	17. Chapter 17

They followed him for several miles. Will made sure to stay several car lengths behind him. They could not chance getting spotted. When they came to the section of the freeway that led into the business district, it became increasingly more crowded, and the traffic moved slower.

Will had his car in sight until a semi pulling two piggy backed trailers moved into the lane ahead of them. Will managed to maneuver into the inside lane to get around him, but as they came around the front of the truck, Sonny spotted the tail end of Bennett's car as he exited the freeway.

"Damn it!" Will swore as he drove to the next exit. Sonny picked up his phone, and called Agent Threadgill. He ran through the strange way Bennett had acted, then told him how they had lost him on the freeway. Agent Threadgill asked them to head on back into the station, saying that he would put another unit on the apartment building. Meanwhile Will wheeled around. "Do you think we should take the freeway back and try to track him down?" He asked as Sonny ended the call.

"Nah. He is probably long gone. They are putting another unit on the complex. Threadgill wants us to head back to the station." He said.

Will nodded and turned the car around. They made it back to the station within 30 minutes. When they got back to the conference room Agent Threadgill was there with another agent. "We are going to pull his life apart and try to find something that we have been missing." He said indicating the case files that lay on the tables around the room. I want to learn everything that we can about this son of a bitch." He said. There were several cases dating back a few years. A couple of domestic disputes and one case of aggravated assault.

Will and Sonny nodded in agreement and sat down to begin reading over case notes for those files that they had not seen yet. Will poured over the notes in the aggravated assault, describing the sadistic way that the young woman, barley even 20 had been treated and abused by this sick bastard. He could have been put away for a long time for what had been done to this young woman, but she had been unwilling to press charges. While Sonny dug through the files on the domestic disputes. There was nothing surprising in the files.

Will passed the case file he had been looking at over to Sonny and pulled all of the information that had been compiled about his personal life. Banking information, school transcripts, employment records… etc… looked like he was basically a drifter, drifting from one dead end job to another, living paycheck to paycheck just like most average people. Never finished high school, got a basic GED a few years later. Just an average run of the mill man, except that he liked to torture and abuse little girls for grins and giggles.

Will kept going, but nothing was jumping out at him until he had went back about six years. In the sixth year there was a joint checking account. The checking account was in the names of Christopher Bennett and Natasha Whitfield.

"Hey Sonny..." Will said looking over at him. Sonny looked back at him and smiled. "Yeah?" he asked. "Did you find something?"

"I am not sure." Will said. "Does the name Natasha Whitfield mean anything to you?" Sonny thought a few minutes before he shook his head.. "No.. why?"

"Six years ago Bennett had a joint checking account with her." Will said. "I think we should probably check into who she is." he said.

"Yeah." Sonny said. That is definitely something that we should do."

Will nodded and grabbed a piece of paper where he jotted down her name and social security number. He laid it to the side and continued to pursue the file. The name of the new mystery woman appeared several more times thorough out an entire two years that preceded the joint checking account. Will discovered that it had been opened in 2007 with an initial deposit of $7500.00 which was apparently a student loan check written to Natasha. The check appeared to be attached to a semester at DePaul University. He wrote down the additional information and kept digging.

After they had been plowing through the files for the better part of the afternoon, Agent Threadgill got up and stretched. He pulled on his sport coat, and put away the file that he was working on. "I am going to head out." he said. "You guys should get out of here too, but I want you up here in the morning ready to follow up on any leads that you found today."

"Yes sir." Will said. "We may have found a new avenue to try for information."

"Good." Thredgill said, "There will also be a meeting for everyone who has worked on his case for even one day, including people from my office on Friday morning. We need to make sure we are all exhausting every lead, we cannot afford to miss any leads."

"Did we ever find Bennett's car?" Sonny asked him.

"No, he dumped it somewhere.. or he got rid of it somehow." Threadgill answered him. "I am sure that it will turn up at some point in time. The question will be whether or not there will be any information that we are able to obtain from it."

"Yeah..." Sonny groused. "It will turn up when it is too late. What about the car that he was driving when Will and I were tailing him earlier?" he asked.

"We have no cause to search that vehicle and besides we don't want to tip our hand and make him paranoid. We need to just let him think that the heat has died down and maybe we will get lucky and he will make a mistake." Threadgill said. "See you both tomorrow."

He left the room and Will sighed. "You ready to get out of here yet?" he asked, closing the file in front of him. "My eyes are tired and everything is starting to run together."

"Yeah, may as well." Sonny said. "We should head up to DePaul University first thing in the morning to see what they know about Ms. Whitfield."

"My thoughts exactly." Will said.

They got up and put the case files away in the file box, closing the door behind them.

They were in the elevator when Sonny turned to Will. "Sooo how do you like being a detective?" he asked.

"So, I am a detective now?" Will asked.

"Pretty much." Sonny chuckled, "This is what detectives do."

"I like it." Will said. "It's pretty awesome… All except for one thing."

"Oh?" Sonny said, "What one thing would that be?"

Will grinned... "Well as much as I like you in your jeans, I really enjoyed looking at you in that uniform." he said wiggling his eyebrows at Sonny.

Sonny threw back his head and laughed, "Well lucky for you... I happen to have an extra one at home. And if you are good I will wear it for you one night."

"Deal!" Will said.

They exited the elevator into the parking garage and ran almost smack into Jensen and Detective Williams.

"Oh hey good, both of you are still here." Jensen said. "We are going to Kelly's to eat. Come on and go with us."

"Nope!" Sonny said, "Sorry but you are on your own, we have plans." Sonny said leading Will away from them and over to the car.

When they were in the car Will laughed. "We could go with them to eat, if you want to." he said.

"No thanks!" Sonny said. "No way I am taking you back around that jerk , what was his name? Prine, or some shit like that, right?"

"Sonny... seriously, I am not into that guy." Will said reaching out and touching Sonny's leg.

"I know... But that doesn't seem to stop him from devouring you with his eyes, and coming on to you in front of me." Sonny growled.

"Okay..." Will said. "But he is never going to have me, and I don't want that to stop us from hanging out with your friends."

"It won't." Sonny said, grabbing Will's hand and giving it a squeeze. "But tonight, I really would just rather be alone with you, if that's okay?"

"Perfect!" Will said. "Let's go then."

Sonny pulled into his driveway. "I hope my place is okay with you." he said looking at him sheepishly when he realized that he hadn't even asked Will if he needed or wanted anything from home before driving them straight to his place.

"Yeah, your place is good." Will said. They got out and Sonny unlocked the door, pushing it open so Will could walk inside. He walked in and kicked his shoes off at the door before going on into the living room.

"Will, you don't have to take your shoes off in here." Sonny said laughing at him.

"I know but I was planning on being here for the night... and I don't wear shoes at home, normally." He said smiling.

"Oh!" Sonny said, "Well make yourself at home then."

Will nodded and went and sat on the couch. Sonny stood just inside the door, trying to decide what he should do. He really wanted to go and shove Will back on the couch and kiss him for hours and hours... but he didn't want Will to feel like that was all he was interested in. He did have more on his mind than sex... okay well he did when they were somewhere that didn't have access to a bed... or a back seat... or an elevator... ugh never mind, he thought to himself. When they were not together he thought about other things. He should probably offer to cook for him or something.

Will made up his mind for him when he twisted to the side and patted the cushion beside him. Sonny moved over to the couch and sat down facing Will.

Will leaned over and brushed their lips together, kissing Sonny softly. Sonny returned the soft pressure of his lips and then pulled back quickly. His hands had been resting on Will's shoulders but he moved them quickly back to his own lap. Will looked at him… "Hey.." he said reaching out and taking Sonny's hands in his own. "What's wrong, you seem nervous."

Sonny nodded his head. "I am…" he said. "I know it's stupid… isn't like we haven't already done this. But it is different now."

Will nodded. He thought he understood where Sonny was coming from. "It's not stupid, it's natural, but please don't be nervous." He said letting Sonny's hands go, he cupped both of his palms around Sonny's cheeks and cradled his face in his hands. "Let go Sonny… let it happen." He gazed into his eyes, trying to convey what was in his heart. "Your heart is safe with me. I promise you that I will never purposely hurt you."

Sonny's eyes fluttered closed. His heart was threatening to race right out of his chest. He and Will were so attuned to one another already; Will already knew what he was thinking before he could put it into words. His throat was so think with emotion that it was threatening to close. Everything in him was pressing down on him, urging him to give in, to allow that last shred of doubt go and place his trust in Will. His soul was calling out to Will's, just as it had been from the beginning.

He nodded his head, His eyes opened slowly. I didn't want it, I wasn't looking for it… I wasn't even close to ready for it. But sometimes it chooses you, and fate decides when. I love you Will, I think I have from the start." He whispered.

"I love you too." Will said sincerely.

Sonny grabbed the front of Will's shirt and pulled him closer. He slid one of his hands behind Will's neck and urged him forward. He covered Will's lips with his own and slipped his tongue inside when his lips parted on a sigh. He stroked their tongues together.

Will's hands left his face and rested on his shoulders for a minute before moving down, massaging his biceps, his fingers traced the muscles he found there. Memorizing the ridges and planes. He leaned forward over Sonny pressing him back into the couch until Sonny was laying flat and he was spread over him like a blanket. He took command of the kiss, Kissing Sonny slowly, languidly exploring his mouth. He kissed him until they were both oxygen depraved and dizzy. He had to break away to breathe. He pulled away and nuzzled his face into the crook of Sonny's neck.

Sonny's arms came around him and hugged him tightly. Will allowed himself to relax into that embrace.

Sonny held him close. He needed to move, his pants were uncomfortably tight, his underwear embarrassingly more than a little damp from that kiss, but he also wanted to stay here like this forever. Unless he missed his guess, Will was in a similar shape, and he didn't think so… especially factoring in the very prominent bulge pressing into him right now.

Will lay still for several minutes, he was trying to use the time to gain control over his overactive hormones. It seemed like every time he was around Sonny, he was transformed into a horny teenager with little to no control. He began thinking random thoughts… anything that got his mind off of the delicious things that he wanted to do to or with Sonny was fair game. They had all night, but if he didn't get his mind on another track and gain some sort of control they were only going to need ten minutes.

When was the last time he had been to the gym? He couldn't even remember, not since he had started on the force, but he was going to get there ASAP. What sports season was it, he couldn't remember the last time he had caught a game… He concentrated for a minute… It was March 11th. Oh Yeah basketball. He remembered now… the last time that he had talked to his grandpa, he had asked if he had caught any of the Bulls home games. The answer of course was No… he had been working, sleeping, and fantasizing… well yeah that had worked for five whole minutes.

Will was so quiet that Sonny was beginning to think that something was wrong. "What are you thinking about?" he asked as he stroked his fingers up and down Will's back.

Will groaned… "Don't ask." He said.

"Why not?" Sonny countered.

"Not important." Will said.

"Oh no…. Now you gotta tell me." He said. "Come on babe… inquiring minds want to know."

Will snickered. "Okay… but I really hate to disappoint you."

"Spill it Horton." Sonny said tickling his ribs.

"Basket ball…" Will said, "I haven't had time to catch a game since I moved here."

"WHAT?" Sonny said indignantly…. "We are here alone… off duty… and you are literally draped over me….. And you are seriously thinking about basketball?"

"Well yeah." Will said laughing. "But I do have a good reason."

"Oh? I can't wait to hear this!" Sonny said.

Will propped himself up on his elbows, "I was thinking random thoughts to try and discourage myself from dragging you off to the bedroom."

"You are absolutely priceless." Sonny said, pushing at him, urging the other man to move off of him. Once Will was on his feet beside the couch, Sonny stood up and held out his hand… "Come on, no dragging necessary!."


	18. Chapter 18

Will tangled their fingers together. "I was going to offer to cook for you or something." Sonny said as he led Will toward the bedroom, "But now I am thinking that we could save that for later."

Sonny pushed the door open to his bedroom, and pulled Will inside. He kissed him quickly. "Let me show you, the whole reason that I broke down and bought this house." He said pulling him over to another door. He pushed that one open as well to reveal the most lavish bathroom that Will had ever seen. The floor held an intricate design in the ceramic tiled floor. There was a double shower with a curved sliding door, a long vanity with double sinks lined one wall. The large oval beveled mirrors that were hung above them were reminiscent of a more classic time. Over in the other corner there was a huge Jacuzzi, it was larger than any Jacuzzi that Will had ever seen.

Will looked over at Sonny. "WOW!" he said, his whole bedroom would almost fit in this bathroom. "I can definitely see how this may have sealed the deal for you. It's gorgeous."

"Yeah the previous owners were renovating the house one room at a time and apparently they started with the master bathroom." Sonny said. "I am not sure why they moved out… but I am glad they did." He moved over to the Jacuzzi and turned on the water, adjusting the temperature.

While it filled with water he reached for Will urging him closer. "I thought we could try it out together." He said.

"You haven't tried it yet?" Will asked.

"I haven't really had a lot of time, I have only been living here a little over 6 months." Sonny answered him. "So I just haven't had the chance."

Will shrugged out of his over shirt, and dropped it onto the floor. "What are we waiting for?"

Sonny sauntered closer and snaked his hands beneath Will's T-shirt and worked it up his torso. When he had it just under Will's arms, Will raised them over his head to assist him. Sonny pulled the shirt over his head and dropped it on top of the other one on the floor. "I love you!" Sonny said softly. Will smiled "Me too." he said, and Sonny snickered. Will blushed, "I mean I love you too." He clarified. He reached down and released the button on his own jeans, but his hand was quickly slapped away when he reached for the zipper.

"Let me." Sonny said, He grasped the tab of the zipper and slowly pulled it down. He slid his hands into the sides of Will's pants. He pushed them down over his hips, taking underwear and all. He knelt before him to help him out of the jeans. Will stepped out of them and Sonny pushed them out of the way. Sonny kissed the protruding bone of Will's hip, nipping at his skin lightly, causing Will to shiver.

Sonny stood up and quickly pulled his own shirt over his head and then shucked his own jeans off. His cock was already over sensitized and the slightest brush of his clothes, had him whimpering.

He took Will's hand and led him into the jacuzzzi. He pressed the button for the jets to start, and turned off the faucets. He pushed Will down onto the chaise lounge style seat. Will settled back at against the seat and Sonny threw one leg over Will's and settled down over his thighs. Groaning loudly when his cock rubbed against Will's. Will shuddered underneath him.

Sonny put his hands on Will's shoulders massaging them for a couple of minutes before he trailed them down over his chest. He tweaked Will's nipples with his thumbs, and continued further south, mapping the dips and valleys, tracing the hard ridges of his abdomen. Will had an awesome six pack, and Sonny marveled at the way it rippled and seemed to quiver underneath his touch. His fingers grazed along the water slickened skin of his rib cage. Will did his best to hold himself still under Sonny's exploring hands, but couldn't help the shivers that occasionally shook his body.

Sonny was amazed at the feelings that he already had for this man. He was crazy in love with him. He wanted to play it cool, and not seem like some kind of love sick teenager... he caught his bottom lip between his teeth, clamping down on it in an effort to keep quiet.. He grinned at Will, his hands constantly moving and exploring.

Will looked at Sonny, he had his bottom lip tucked between his teeth but he looked like he wanted to say something. "What?" Will asked him.

Sonny looked down, breaking their eye contact. "Nothing." He whispered.

"I know it is something." Will said, "you may as well say it."

Sonny slid forward a little more, until Will's cock was nestled in between his thighs. It was hot and growing increasingly hard and heavy laying against his upper thigh. He moved against Will, "I just love you… that's all." He said before he connected his lips with Will's neck allowing his tongue to slip out and taste the natural saltiness of his skin. He licked his way up to Will's ear. "And you are sexy as hell." He whispered. "Did you know that?" he asked pulling Will's ear lobe into his mouth sucking on it gently. He nibbled on it, grinning when he heard the whoosh of breath that left Will. "I just want to bury my cock inside that beautiful ass of yours and stay there for hours." He breathed into his ear. Sonny left his ear, biting gently into the soft skin just between his neck and shoulder. "Do you know what you do to me?" he asked. "You drive me fucking crazy." He said harshly.

Will's hands splayed on Sonny's sides, grabbing him, he pulled Sonny forward and fit their bodies together. Will slid one hand up into the back of Sonny's hair, pulling Sonny's head to him, fastening his lips over Sonny's he forced his tongue inside his mouth kissing him passionately. His mouth ravished Sonny's, his tongue left no nook unexplored. His other hand stroked down Sonny's back, following his spine all the way to his tail bone. His fingers clenched Sonny's ass cheek. His fingers finding and grazing Sonny's entrance.

Sonny's hips flexed, and his stomach muscles clenched. He kissed Will back roughly. The kiss became sloppy and uncoordinated. Sonny wrenched his mouth away from Will. He gulped in a lung full of air, his chest was heaving, his cock throbbing against his stomach. "Jesus, Will…" Sonny cried. "Come on!" he said jumping up, pulling Will with him. "Bed." He grunted.

Sonny stepped out of the Jacuzzi and Will followed his lead. Sonny grabbed him pulling him close, kissing him and walking him backwards. He didn't even bother with towels; he finagled Will to the edge of the bed and shoved him backwards.

He fell back against the bed laughing. "Boy, someone is anxious huh?" he said teasingly.

"You wouldn't even believe how much…" Sonny agreed, crawling over his body. Will reached out to touch him and he took Will's hands and pinned them to the bed above his head.

"Oh I think I have a pretty good idea!" Will answered lifting his hips off the bed to rub against Sonny's erection.

"Shut up and kiss me." Sonny said lowering his mouth to Will's. His tongue tangled with Will's. He ground his hips down into Will's, reveling in the feeling of their members rubbing together.

Will moved one leg out from under Sonny and wrapped it around his leg to give him leverage. Sonny still had his hands pinned to the bed, but he was able to use the leverage of the leg he wrapped around Sonny to flip them over. When Sonny was on his back and Will was able to scramble over the top of him, he sat up with a satisfied smile on his face.

"If I remember correctly… you were in charge last time." He teased, "This time it's my turn."

Sonny held his hands up in mock surrender. "I'm all yours." He said.

"You bet your sweet ass you are." Will agreed. "But before we go any further here…. You should know Sonny Kiriakis that I happen to fucking Love you like there is no tomorrow." He said before he began a slow exploration of Sonny's body. He kissed Sonny's shoulder, tracing patterns on his skin with his tongue. He continued down to his chest in a straight line, veering to first the left side, then the right. He laved Sonny's nipples with his tongue, nipping them with his teeth, until they were taut buds. His hands traced the planes of Sonny's chest, molded to his rib cage. He scooted further down, and dipped his tongue into Sonny's navel, rimming it before he moved on to his hip. Will traced the curve of his hip bone with his tongue. He took hold of Sonny's cock with his hand, grasping it in his fist. He licked his lips, and then tentatively swiped his tongue over the crown of Sonny's cock. Sonny's body jerked violently. "Yessss" he grunted, through gritted teeth.

He reached for Will and tangled his hand into his hair, he urged his head down, thrusting his hips up. He was desperate for the contact with the hot wet haven that was Will's mouth. Will parted his lips and took Sonny fully into his mouth, taking him as far back in his throat as he could. Sonny's hand in his hair gripped him firmly, guiding him up and down, his hips eagerly rising and falling to meet him.

Will relaxed his throat, and hollowed his cheeks sucking him with every upward stroke, coaching his cream from him, tasting it on his tongue. Sonny was whimpering, a string of unintelligible words flowing from his lips. Every muscle in his body was coiled, the muscles in his neck were corded and standing out. His eyes were squeezed shut, his control was already being stretched, and tested. The sight of Will going down on him would surely be more than he could handle. "Will…. Babe, Please!" he begged.

"Hmm" Will hummed around him, causing the vibrations to move through him. "Wwwwiilll" he stuttered. "I'm close, really really close." He warned. Will nodded slightly and continued his rhythmic movements. "Aaaahhh" Sonny cried. His body pulsating with his need for release. He felt the first ripples of his climax clawing through his body, felt the first white hot jet shooting from him. Will's rhythm faltered a tiny bit for just a second, before he continued until Sonny was lost in the fire licking through his veins. He gave himself over to the sensations that were bearing down on him and emptied himself into Will's very willing mouth. He felt Will swallowing around him, multiple times milking the last drop from him.

He felt Sonny's body go lax beneath him. He moved further down, allowing Sonny to slide from his mouth. He looked up at Sonny, his chest rising and falling rapidly. Will put his hand behind Sonny's left knee and pulled it up. He parted his legs and traced his tongue along the sensitive skin in the crease of his thigh, causing him to shiver. He coated his fingers with his spit before he took one of Sonny's balls into his mouth he sucked it eagerly, while he massaged Sonny's entrance with his thumb before pressing a finger into him.

"Fuck!" Sonny shouted.. He reached out blindly for Will. He rolled up and supported himself on his elbows. "Will" he panted… "I have no idea how…. But if you keep doing that, I am going to cum again." Will took his mouth off of Sonny… licking his lips clean, "That's the idea!" He said moving to the other one, giving it the same attention. Sonny squirmed and thrashed beneath him. Will added a second a second finger, stretching Sonny, preparing him. He needed him to be ready. His own cock was hard and throbbing, leaking, dripping pre cum. He was on the verge of losing control and covering Sonny with the evidence of his arousal. He moved his mouth and got to his knees between Sonny's legs.

Sonny looked at Will. His lips were a bright red color, his eyes the darkest blue he had ever seen them, clouded with desire. "Sonny…." He said.. so much question in that one word.. He nodded yes.

Will took his legs and pushed them farther apart, his knees bent...He urged Sonny's hips off of the bed and shoved a pillow beneath his ass. He lined himself with Sonny's entrance pressing inside of him. He leaned down framing Sonny in, a hand on each side of his head. Will slid easily into his heat. He froze when he was buried as deep as he could be. He let the sensations roll over him, crashing down on him like waves. Everything felt… clear and crisp, different than it had ever felt before.

"God… you feel fucking amazing Will." Sonny squeaked. "You're scorching hot." He said. Will looked down to where their bodies were joined together…. And realized… "Shit." He swore.. "Sonny…. Babe.." He said moving to pull out of Sonny. He felt the change in Will, the tenseness that immediately flowed through him. Sonny frantically grabbed Will's forearms holding him in place. "Wait, what's wrong?" He asked, looking into Will's eyes.

"I got so carried away, that I forgot the condom." Will said. "I am so sorry, I am clean I promise… but just give me a minute to get it… I have some in my wallet." He moved again.. "Wait." Sonny said. "This is the first time, without protection…. And I gotta tell you that you feel extraordinary… I don't think I want to give that up." He said. "I am clean too… so can we just… you know?" he said, clamping his muscles around Will.

"Are you sure?" Will gulped. "I need you to be really, really sure? Because if we go on like this, I may not last more than a couple minutes."

"Yesssss" Sonny said. "I am positive."

Will leaned his forehead against Sonny's he pulled his bottom lip in between his teeth, biting it gently. He started to move slowly, pulling back as far as possible, before sliding back in all the way to the hilt, over and over again. Sonny's muscles clenched around Will, dragging his orgasm closer. Will's strokes became less coordinated, faster. Sonny's hands gripped Will's arms, his fingers gripping, nails biting into the skin. The feeling of being engulfed in Sonny's hot channel with no barrier between them had Will fighting to maintain control. He wanted to hold out, to make it last…. But he was fast losing that control, he pressed into Sonny, angling his hips looking for that perfect spot. He knew that he had found it when Sonny screamed out his name, his legs coming around Will's waist. Sonny matched his strokes, rising up to meet him, until he could not hold out any longer. His movements became frenzied. He plowed into Sonny over and over.

Sonny reached between them and stroked his cock in his fist. The sight further pushing Will past his limit. "Sonny…" He groaned… "that's…. Yeah.I'm. going. to. cum…" he grunted, before spilling his seed over. He threw his head back…letting himself be carried away in the sensation of Sonny spasming around him… Sonny covered Will's stomach with his own jucies, as he felt hot jets of Will's semen deep inside him. Will fell over him, still buried inside him. He rested his head on Sonny's shoulder.

"Damn.." he said "That was really amazing." Will whispered.

"Yeah" Sonny agreed. "I don't think I ever wanna do it the other way again."

"I agree completely." Will said. He pushed himself up and moved off of Sonny. "It was definitely a new experience for me." He said rolling over onto his back. He folded his arms behind his head and closed his eyes.

Sonny rolled up beside him, propping up on his elbow. "So….. is it my turn now?" he asked teasingly. He traced his finger down the center of Will's chest.

Will's eyes popped open. "Sure… I am game." He said "Right after we eat something."


	19. Chapter 19

It had taken quite a bit of time and effort just to just make it out of the house, there were too many shared kisses, small touches and the shower they had taken together to "save time" had all contributed to them being late for work. They got a few stern looks from the captain, and a "Get out there and get me something I can use." From Agent  
Threadgill.

They had sped across town, determined to find something that would help the case. "Make a left here!" Will instructed Sonny, "We should find the front offices of the college just ahead." He said. Sonny followed his directions and spotted a sign that directed him to the small office parking lot. He pulled into a parking spot and turned the car off. "I hope this gives up some kind of a lead." He said looking over at Will.

Will gazed back at him. "I hope so too." He agreed. "Let's go." They climbed out of the car and walked up to the door. Will opened the door and waited for Sonny to enter the building ahead of him. There was a receptionist area with a few leather chairs and a massive desk with credenza. There was a stern looking woman behind the desk. She reminded Sonny of a teacher from his elementary school days, one of the ones that could put the fear of god in you with just one look. Her salt and pepper hair was pulled back from her face and secured in a tight bun. A pair of tortoise shell glasses sat on the end of her nose adding to her old school marm look.

"Can I help you gentleman?" she asked, as Will closed the door behind them. "Good morning Ma'am." Sonny said politely, wondering why he suddenly felt 3 feet tall again. "We would like to see the President of the university…" Sonny pulled out his notebook and consulted his notes that he had made late last evening. "…Randall Markinson?" he finished.

The woman looked at him."Do you have an appointment?" she asked.

"No, I am afraid that we don't have an appointment." Sonny said.

"Well then, I am afraid it isn't possible to just drop in unannounced." She said, pulling a book in front of her from the side credenza, "I can make you an appointment for next Wednesday, at 3pm?" she said looking at him expectantly. The pencil that she now had in her hand was poised over the paper, ready to take his name.

Sonny reached into his pocket and pulled out his badge, he flipped the wallet open and held it out for her to see. "I am afraid that we are going to need to see him now, please." He said. "If you could just let him know that Detectives Kiriakis and Horton from the Chicago PD are here to see him it would be helpful." Sonny said.

The blood drained from her face and she paled visibly. "Is there something wrong?" she asked, her hand going to her throat.

Sonny shook his head, "Not at all we just have some questions about a former student, ma'am."

"Just a moment." She said, "Please have a seat and I will be right back with you." The woman disappeared through a heavy wooden door. Sonny and Will took a seat in the leather chairs, awaiting her return.

Maybe 10 minutes passed before Sonny, got to his feet. He was restless and he had a feeling in his gut that he could not shake, an instinct that told him he was missing something.

"Detectives," A booming voice said, as a robust man appeared through the same door, the school marm look alike had disappeared through earlier. "I am Randall Markinson." He said holding out a hand and shaking hands with Sonny and then Will. "Thank you for seeing us Sir." Sonny said, "I am Detective Kiriakis, and this is Detective Horton." He said. "Happy to meet you both, right this way." He said turning and holding the door open for them. Sonny and Will walked through the door, it led into a maze of small offices.

"Follow me, we can talk in my office." The older man said, leading the way down the hall and around a corner, where they came to another lobby with another small desk and more leather chairs. There was a younger, petite blonde occupying the desk. The desk held quite a few stacks of folders and top of the line computer and printer, along with a telephone and a couple of personal items. Randall Markinson led them over to another door. The gold lettering on the door proclaiming it to be his office, "Macey," He said addressing his secretary, "I will be in a meeting for a bit, and I do not want to be disturbed." He said.

"Yes Sir." She said, giving Will and Sonny a slight smile.

They walked into the office and, the door was closed behind them. "What can I do for the Chicago PD on this fine morning?" he asked as he motioned to the seats before his desk. When Will and Sonny sat down he followed suit and settled in his own chair.

"We need to ask a couple of questions about a former student." Will said, "If you don't mind," He continued. "By the name of Natasha Whitfield."

Randall Markinson rubbed his chin. "When was she a student here?" He asked. "That name is not ringing any bells for me?"

Will produced a small notebook from his back pocket and looked at his notes. "She would have started here in 2007." He said. "I went over the lists of graduating students in the years after that but never saw her name on any of the lists."

"Just a moment." He said, pushing a button on the phone that sat on the corner of his desk. "Macey, will you pull the file for a student, a Miss Natasha Whitfield from 2007 and bring it to me immediately?" he asked.

"Yes, sir." Came the brisk reply.

"She should have it to us shortly gentleman." He said, directing his attention back to Sonny and Will. "While we wait, do you mind if I ask what this is regarding?" he asked.

Will looked over to Sonny and waited to see what he would say. Sonny cleared his throat, "I'm sorry but we can't discuss the details of the case we are working on." he said, "What I can tell you is that at this time Ms. Whitfield is in no trouble, we were hoping to be able to track her down and talk to her about a suspect in a case that we are working. We have reason to believe that she has previously had a relationship with this person."

"I see." Randall Markinson said. "I do hope that we can give you whatever information that you are seeking to gain from us. Can you tell me what exactly you are looking for here?" he asked.

"We are looking for any information that may lead us to her current whereabouts. We need to ask her a couple of questions about a man that we have reason to believe she had a relationship with." Sonny said.

A delicate knock came on the door, and the door immediately opened. Macey walked in, and straight over to the desk, she handed him a thin file. Mr. Markinson smiled at her. "That will be all. He said dismissing the secretary.

As she walked out and closed the door, he opened the file and looked over the information. "I'm afraid there isn't a lot here." He said laying the papers out over the desk. Will and Sonny scooted their chair forward and picked up the papers, passing them between the two of them.

"She attended classes here 2006 and 2007, majoring in Criminal Justice, and from the looks of the course load that she was taking she was serious and aggressive about getting her degree. Then…..nothing." Sonny asked. "She just dropped off the face of the earth? Is there no information about her transferring to another school?"

Randall Markinson shifted the papers around on his desk. "Nothing about a transfer…" he said, "This is strange, there is also a note in the file that her transcripts were requested by the CCC." He said. "I'm sorry gentleman, that is all I have."

"Thank you for your time." Sonny said standing, he shook the older man's hand and Will followed his lead. They left the office and walked out through the lobby. Neither of them spoke until they were in the car.

"This just got more complicated." Will said. "We aren't going to get anything from the Crime and Corruption Commission."

"You are probably right!" Sonny agreed, "She is probably in the witness protection program, but we have to try at least."

Will nodded and started the car, he drove toward headquarters while Sonny filled Agent Threadgill in on what they had learned. Threadgill agreed to make the call to get them an appointment to see the head of the program. He instructed them to go straight over to the federal courthouse and wait for his call.

Will drove them to the courthouse and they parked the car in the parking garage. Agent Threadgill called about 20 minutes later, instructing them to go in and ask to see a Mrs. Francis Rathborne.

They got out and took the elevator to the appropriate floor. "You think we are going to get any information?" Will asked as they walked down the corridor.

"Hard to tell." Sonny said, as they found the door and entered into a small office. There was a frail looking older lady sitting at a small desk containing nothing but a telephone and a legal pad just inside the door. Sonny smiled at her. "We are here to see Mrs. Rathborne." Sonny said.

"Yes of course. May I have your names please?" She asked.

"Detective Jackson Kiriakis and Detective William Horton." Sonny said. "One moment, Sir." She said, pushing up from the chair and disappearing through a plain white door.

"This is a very different office than the last one huh?" Will asked.

"I'll say." Sonny said, "I guess they like to keep a low profile." He flashed Will a grin as she made her way back into the room.

"Mrs. Rathborne will see you now." She said, motioning to them to follow her. She led them through the same white door into a small, but stylish office.

They were greeted by a middle aged woman, who was of small stature. She shook their hands one after the other and nodded to the chairs in front of the desk. They all settled into chairs and Sonny decided to get to the point.

"I am detective Kiriakis and this is Detective Horton, we are working a case that has been in the news quite a bit, I am sure you have read about it. The abuse and attempted murder of the children between the ages of 3 and 8 here and in the surrounding areas." He said.

"Yes, I am familiar with the case. I have been following it, such a sad case." She said, "How is that you think I can help you?" she asked.

"We are locking in on a suspect, and we need to find someone that used to be connected to him." Sonny said. "We traced her to DePaul University in 2006 and 2007, but she dropped out and it seems she dropped off the face of the earth. Then the President of the university let us know that the CCC had requested a copy of her transcripts. We were hoping that you could help us figure out her whereabouts. Her name is Natasha Whitfield."

Mrs. Rathborne folded her hands together, resting them on the desk in front of her. "I'm sorry detectives but you know that I cannot help you." She said.

"We just want to ask her a couple of questions." Will said, "We wouldn't even have to know her new identity." He said.

"My hands are tied here… there is nothing that I can do." She said, getting to her feet to show them out. "Agent Threadgill called me, and I stressed to him the same thing that I am telling you now. Even if there was or is no need for her to remain in our program, I cannot and I will not release any information about her to you or anyone else."

"I knew it was a long shot." Sonny said, "But we had to try, we are racing against time, just hoping to God that one of these precious little girls don't end up dead." He said.

Mrs. Rathborne followed them to the door, opening it for them. "I wish you luck detective."

"Thanks." Sonny mumbled. They walked back to the elevator and went back to the car.

"What now?" Will asked, looking at Sonny. "Where can we go from here?"

"I'm not sure yet." Sonny said. "I am not ready to give up this lead, but there isn't a lot more that we can do. At least not right now."

"Okay," Will said, "Let's go to the station and see what else we can turn up." He continued. As he was pulling out into the traffic, Sonny's phone rang.

"Kiriakis." He answered. He listened for a few minutes, and then said, "We're on it." Before he disconnected the call. "Turn around Will" he said. "We need to get over toward Bennett's complex, apparently he just left the hardware store where he purchased rope and duct tape."

"Interesting." Will said, "Sounds like he is getting ready to make a move." He turned the car around and sped toward the other side of town.

"We will probably be spending the night on another stake out tonight." Sonny said. "If this bastard tries to take another child, I want to be there."

"Of course." Will said, "We should be there watching him anyway. There is no way that we are letting him get his hands on another child. We just need to be able to prove what he has done."

They pulled onto the street the complex was situated on, and pulled up just before the parking lot. They had a perfect view of the front door, and could easily maneuver into the traffic if the need arose.

Sonny picked up the radio and alerted the other officers to their position. The officer in the other car gave Sonny the brief rundown of the trip to the hardware store. Sonny gave them the okay to leave.

Will rolled the windows down, and Sonny twisted in his seat. He leaned his back against the door, and gazed at Will. "So it seems like we have a lot of time to kill." He said.

"Guess so." Will agreed.

"So tell me about your life before me." Sonny said.

"There isn't much to tell." Will answered, "I feel like my life began when I found you." 


	20. Chapter 20

"Nice Words Horton." Sonny said, "But I am serious."

Will smiled at him. "Seriously." He said reaching over and taking Sonny's hand in his. He wrapped his fingers around Sonny's. "I really do feel like I came alive when I met you." He was quiet for a minute…"You tell me about you."

"Oh no." Sonny said, "We already had this conversation, remember? I spent my life drifting from boarding school to boarding school."

"But, what about your childhood?" Will pressed. "That must have had some good parts right?"

"It was okay, but nothing spectacular." Sonny revealed quietly. "I always knew I was loved, but most of the time I wasn't sure I was wanted."

"I'm sorry." Will said squeezing his fingers. "I had the opposite, I always knew I was wanted, but wondered a lot about if I was loved. Most of my childhood I was used as the rope in my parents game of tug of war."

"That sounds miserable, especially for a young child." Sonny said. He rubbed his thumb across Will's knuckles.

"It was most of the time." Will said in agreement. "But looking back now, I guess the saddest part is that I got used to it, and I learned to close off my feelings about it. It was all about having emotional control over each other for them. When mom wanted to get back at dad for something that he did to her, she wouldn't let him see me for months on end. And when dad wanted to keep her from marrying whatever guy was next in the revolving door of her love life he would always threaten to take me away from her."

Sonny watched Will closely as he talked, he had never seen him looking so vulnerable and sad. He wondered if maybe his feelings weren't as 'closed off' as Will would like to believe. "God Will, you make boarding school sound like a real dream house." He teased. He saw a little smile break through.. "Alright enough of that… Tell me about your first love." He said.

"My first love huh?" Will asked. His eyes brightened considerably, and he smiled genuinely. "This should be an interesting conversation."

Sonny's heart was pounding in his chest. He felt like ice water was running in his veins. From the wistful look that Will was wearing on his face at the moment, he was afraid that he may have some serious competition. Will opened his mouth to talk and Sonny forced himself to be quiet and listen to Will without grimacing. This was his own fault, he had asked the damn question.

"I think you may know my first love even better than I do." Will teased him. "You are the first person that I have ever really, truly loved."

"Me?" Sonny asked, unable to keep the surprise from his voice. "So you have never been in love before now?"

"Nope." Will confirmed. "Not till now."

Sonny couldn't keep the huge grin from his face. "I am honored then."

They fell into a comfortable silence, Sonny was lost in thought, thinking of how happy he was in this moment. He said a quick prayer that Josh had found happiness and that his life was full. He had often wondered why that door of his life had been closed, but now he understood that it was so that this one could be opened. He was meant to love this man, and he did love him, more than his own life. He knew it without a doubt and as soon as this case was over, he was going to take Will on a vacation and make sure that he knew it too.

Will lay his head back against the headrest and closed his eyes. He had never been so happy before. Sonny was more than he could have ever dreamed of. He could see their life together, he could imagine them with a child, or two, growing old together watching their kids grow and achieve their dreams. It was a dream that he desperately wanted to become a reality… maybe not now, but sooner rather than later.

The sound of a car door, caused them both to sit up straighter and take notice of their surroundings. Will squinted into the dark, it was just past dusk making it difficult to see. A dark SUV came rolling out of the parking lot of the complex with no lights on. He waited until he was past their car and turned the lights on, speeding up a bit. He merged into the traffic, speeding in the direction of the freeway.

"Was that him?" Will asked.

"I couldn't tell but let's follow him." Sonny said.

Will whipped the car around and sped down the street to catch up with the charcoal colored vehicle. Once they had caught up to him, just before he took the freeway exit, Will said "Run the plate." Sonny nodded and picked up the radio. "Dispatch" he called. Waiting for a response, he noticed that Will stayed right with the SUV as he merged in and out of the traffic. Clearly Will had learned something the last time they had done this.

"Go Ahead." Dispatch came on the radio. "This is Detective Kiriakis," Sonny spoke into the radio, I need registration information for tag # M.I. 597 8246." He said. "10-4" Dispatch called back. It was a minute before she was back. "Detective Kiriakis, Vehicle in question is a 2013 GMC Yukon XL, Charcoal color, Registered to Mark Gregory Bennett, 147 MC Invale Dr. Grand Rapids Michigan, No current warrants, no traffic violations in the last 5 years."

"Copy That." Sonny said into the radio. He put the radio back in the clamp and picked up his cell, he pressed the speed dial for Agent Threadgill, and conference in Chief Morwessell. When they were both on the line, Sonny started talking. "Sirs, we are tailing an SUV registered to a Mark Gregory Bennett, from Grand Rapids Michigan. He just pulled out of Christopher Bennett's apartment complex. Driver was acting suspicious so we decided to see what he was up to and when I ran the plates the name puzzles me. We didn't find a lot of family when we did the back ground on Bennett."

"DAMN IT." Threadgill swore loudly, "Who the hell is he, Brother?, Cousin?, Father?" he mused aloud. "Stay on him and let me do some digging, see if I can figure out who the hell this is." He said. "I will be in touch." He ended his side of the call.

"Kiriakis?" The chief called, still on the line. "Sir?" Sonny asked. "Good work, you two make sure you are careful out there." He said.

"Yes Sir." Sonny said, disconnecting the call.

He dropped the cell into the seat. "Stay on him, Threadgill is going to get us some information about this guy."

Will nodded and concentrated on staying with the other car. They followed him to the heart of downtown Chicago. He pulled into the parking lot of a small diner that looked more like a dive. Will pulled to the side of the road and they waited to see what he was going to do next. He opened the door and slid down out of the SUV, sliding a baseball cap on his head. He looked around for a long minute. He seemed to sense that he was being followed. Then he ducked into the diner and took a seat at a small corner table.

Will pulled the car into the parking lot and cut the engine. "Should we go in?" he asked. Sonny shook his head. "No, you go in and get some coffee and a sandwich or something to go and get a closer look at him." He said. Will nodded and opened his door. He slid out of the car and walked up to the door. He pulled it open and the smell of stale cigarette smoke and burned food washed over him, making him nauseous.

He was greeted at the counter by a petite young blonde. "Hey Handsome, I haven't seen you in here before. What can I get you?" she asked before popping her gum while she waited for him to decide. He slid onto a stool at the bar… "Umm two coffee's to go and a club sandwich." He said closing the menu and smiling at her. He pulled his wallet from his back pocket and paid for the order, then he settled in to wait for it.

He watched his suspect, from the corner of his eye, he was dark haired, and had a few days worth of scruff covering his jaw and chin. The waitress ambled over to the table and asked for his order. He ordered a steak medium well and fries with tea. Once she had the order and walked off he pulled out his phone and pressed a few buttons before jamming it between his ear and shoulder, while he dug in his pocket for something. "I'm here and she isn't here…. You had better not be fucking with me." He growled into the phone. "Fine.." he said "You had better remember our deal." He punched a button and slammed the phone down on the table.

"Here you go sir?" The waitress said garnering Will's attention. She handed him a bag across the counter. "Cream and sugar in the bag hun." She said "Here are your coffee's she said handing him a cup holder with two large cups of coffee securely inside. "Thanks" Will said, taking the items and walking out the door.

He walked to the car and slid behind the wheel. He handed Sonny a coffee and the bag. "Cream and sugar in there," he said, "and I have a feeling we are going to need it, it looked like used motor oil when she poured it in the cups." He teased.

"Ugh" Sonny said when he pulled the lid off…. "Smells like it too." He said, He took an experimental sip, then promptly poured it out the window. "No amount of cream and sugar was going to help that." He said laughing.

"It can't be that bad." Will said. He opened several sugar packets and dumped them in, and then used all six creamers." The coffee finally turned a chocolate brown color after the fourth creamer. Will swirled it all around and then tasted it, ready to prove to Sonny that he could drink it….. but then he gagged on the first sip… "Fine" he said, "you're right, there is no help for this." He said pouring his out as well.

They shared a laugh over the coffee, "You can have the sandwich." Will said pushing the bag back toward Sonny… "Oh no you don't" Sonny laughed. "You bought it, you eat it." He laughed. Will scrunched his nose up… "Not hungry." He insisted, giggling loudly.

"What happened in there." Sonny asked once Will stopped giggling. Will recounted the phone call for Sonny. "I have no idea who he was talking to." He said, he never said a name. "We don't even know who this son of a bitch is." He said.

"I know." Sonny said, as his phone began ringing. He looked at the caller ID. "Threadgill" he said, pressing the answer key. He pressed the speaker button then answered the call. "I have you on speaker so Will can hear this too." Sonny said right away. "Great" Threadgill said. "Here is the lowdown on Mr. Mark Bennett. He is Christopher Bennett's half Brother. They share a father, but not a mother. Looks like they grew up not knowing much about the each other until they both lived with daddy dearest Martin Bennett, where they had unrestricted access to their young half sister, Catherine Bennett. They spent some time in juvenile detention center after being charged with reckless endangerment of a minor. According to court records they tied the six year old child to a tree and used her for target practice throwing baseballs, beer bottles, and anything else they could get their hands on at her. Mark Bennett was, sixteen years old, Christopher Bennett, fifteen years old. The child spent more than a month in a critical care unit at Saint Francis Medical center, Richmond, VA."

"Fuck" Sonny said, "Why have we not seen some mention of this. We tore his past apart."

"The records were sealed because all of the involved parties were minors, not to mention they are all family. I only happened on it by mistake, I was typing Mark's name into a national database and I didn't realize that it was in juvenile records. But it is a good thing it was. It indicated one sealed record and I had to call Chief and get him to pull a few strings with Judge Kennsington to give the order to unseal the record, and now finally here we are. These are some sick bastards but there was another twist." He said.

"What?" Sonny asked warily.

"Mark Bennett served a total of two weeks in the detention center while Christopher remained there until his 18th birthday before he was released. It seems that Jullian Bennett, Grandfather and family patriarch convinced the mother of Catherine Bennett to drop the charges against Mark only. She did as he asked and promptly left town taking Catherine and basically disappearing."

"That doesn't make sense." Sonny said. "Why drop charges against one but not the other?" Will added.

"That's what you two are going to figure out tomorrow, you are flying to Virginia in the morning. I think we need to pay Jullian Bennett a visit."

"Yes Sir." Sonny and Will said together.

"Alright, I am going to keep digging, I will be in touch." Threadgill said.

"Thanks." Sonny said.

Will looked through the window of the diner. Mark Bennett was no longer alone. There was a petite young woman at the table with a child that looked to be no older than 2 years. They seemed to be having a heated discussion.

Sonny watched them for a minute. "I am going to get more of that fabulous coffee." He said, getting out of the car. He went into the diner, and walked to the counter, Bennett didn't even offer his a cursory glance. The waitress was nowhere to be seen.

"I don't know how you found me, but I want you to leave me the hell alone. Just forget you ever knew me." She said forcefully.

"That's my daughter, I am not likely to forget that." He said snidely. "You cannot keep her away from me."

"She is not your daughter." She said, "Leave us alone."

"You can either come with us or I will take her and you will never see her again." Bennett snarled, "That's your choice."

The young lady jumped from the seat and snatched the child into her arms. "I will die before I let that happen." She said, jerking the glass of water from her side of the table and slinging the liquid in his face.

She barreled out of the diner and threw herself into an older model pick up, she turned the engine over and sped out of the parking lot.

Bennett just took a few napkins and wiped his face and shoulders off. Then he got up and went to the men's room.

"What can I get you Sugar?" an older woman said, coming from the kitchen. Sonny's eyes flew around the restaurant. "Just a small coffee and a slice of apple pie to go." He said, going with the first thing he saw.

"Coming right up." She said, disappearing into the kitchen.

Bennett came from the back and walked straight out the door. Sonny waited a beat and then hollered, "Ma'am cancel that order, I have to go." He said before he took off and jumped into the car with Will.

"Follow him." Sonny said, bucking his seatbelt. He launched into telling Will what he had heard in the diner. The strange exchange between the woman and Bennett. They followed him to a quiet residential neighborhood, where he pulled off the side of the road under the shadow of a huge oak tree. Will passed him and made the block, so they would not seem suspicious. He parked on the street adjacent to where Bennett was parked. Sonny had spotted the same beat up truck from the diner in a driveway just down from where Bennett was parked. He pointed it out to Will.

"So he is stalking her, or he really is going to try and take the kid, and god knows what he would do to her." Will said.

"We aren't going to let that happen." Sonny said. The door opened to the small house down the street and the woman from the diner emerged carrying the small child who seemed to be sleeping. The young woman was struggling under the weight of the child and the suitcase she carried in her hand. When she got to the truck she dropped the suitcase on the ground and buckled the child into a safety seat and then picked up the bag and tossed it into the back of the truck. She stopped and looked around then went back into the house.

Mark Bennett opened the door of the SUV and climbed down He moved quietly toward the truck. He was halfway there when the woman came back out of the house carrying a second suitcase. She froze when she saw Bennett.

Sonny picked up the radio. "Dispatch this is Kiriakis, I am currently at 4765 Maple Lane, Chicago. We have a possible domestic disturbance that could turn violent, I need you to dispatch a back up unit ASAP." He said. "10-4, detective, you are advised to stay in your vehicle until your back up unit is in the vicinity, they are currently working an armed robbery in progress." "Copy" Sonny said into the radio. "Looks like it is you and me." He said looking at Will. "Let's go." Will said.

"NO!" The woman screamed, "Get away from her."

"She's my daughter, Bitch" Bennett said. "I am taking her."

"She's not your daughter." She sobbed. "Christopher is her father, not you." She moved toward the truck.

Sonny and Will were now outside of the car. Will went toward the front of the house, leaving Sonny to go on the opposite side of the street, coming up behind him. Will stayed to the shadows. He realized when he was half way to the front door that he had not grabbed his weapon from the glove box, He prayed to God that Sonny had his/ He had put it there earlier because he and Sonny were supposed to conduct interviews and go home today…

"Lies" Bennett snarled at her. "You are trying to confuse me."

"No." She said wiping her eyes with the backs of her hands. "He raped me… I didn't tell you because I didn't think you would care."

"You are a lying whore." He said, reaching behind him he pulled a gun from the waist of his jeans. He aimed it at her.. "You don't deserve to have her." He said.

Sonny knelt down quickly and drew his own weapon from his ankle holster. The hairs on the back of his neck were standing up. He had an awful feeling about this. Where the hell was the back up they had requested.

He looked across the street just in time to see Will step into full view. "Bennett" Will called. "Put that gun down on the sidewalk and back away from it." He called.

Bennett looked at Will, "Who the fuck are you?" he asked.

"Officer Will Horton." He answered. "Drop your weapon now." He said, hoping his voice carried an air of authority.

Bennett narrowed his eyes at Will… "What are you some fancy subdivision security guard? You better mind your own business boy." He said. The young woman moved toward the truck, the keys jingled in her hand, drawing Bennett's attention back to her.

He leveled the gun at her again, shaking with rage…. "No, you get over there by that rent a cop." He said. "I will kill you, if you move one inch toward that truck." She relented back and moved closer to Will. He could feel the rebellion in her body. He knew she was calculating the risk…

"I'm with Chicago PD." Will said. "How come you don't got no badge then, or No gun?" he asked dumbly.

"I'm off duty right now." Will answered matter of factly, trying to get the other man to concentrate on him.

Sonny was livid, what the hell was Will thinking, why didn't he pull his weapon? Why had he made his presence known.

The child in the car woke up to the sound of all the screaming. "Mommy" she called softly. Will looked toward the truck, he grasped at the woman's wrist knowing she was about to bolt. When no one went to her the small girl started to cry. It was enough to startle Bennett into action. "It's okay Daddy is here." He said loudly…. She only cried louder. "Shut that shit up right now." Bennett screamed. "Daddy's taking you home."

The small woman jerked her wrist from Will's grasp and rushed Bennett. "The HELL YOU ARE." She screamed as she launched herself at his body. Will was right on her heels, barley even a step behind her.

"NOOOO" Sonny shouted from behind them He rushed forward. A gunshot rang out, just before Sonny's body slammed into Bennett's knocking him to his knees. The gun flew out of his hand, landing a few feet away. They tumbled and tussled around on the ground until Sonny was able to wrestle him to his stomach. Sonny quickly pulled a pair of cuffs from his back pocket and slapped them oh his wrists.

A black and white cruiser pulled up, at that moment. "Now they come." Sonny said in exasperation. His shoulder was hurting a little and felt like it may be bruised in the morning but he was okay. He looked over to Will, wanting to lay his eyes on the man he loved and make sure he was okay… only He was on the ground…. Not moving. The woman was half on top of him, sobbing softly.

Sonny rushed to him, dropping to the ground beside him. There was blood….. so much blood…. Will was gasping for breath…. Sonny's vision blurred for a moment, he felt as if he may pass out. He could not lose Will.

Sonny turned and screamed out. "Call for an Ambulance NOW!"


	21. Chapter 21

_**A/N: Thank you guys for continuing to read this story... Sorry for the cliffhanger in the last chapter... From here things are going to progress pretty quickly. Thank you also for all of the reviews. They truly mean alot to me.**_

"Call for an ambulance NOW!" Sonny screamed over his shoulder. Will's shirt was soaked in blood. Sonny couldn't tell where it was coming from. He pushed the woman off of him as gently as he could. "Oh God Will…" Sonny sobbed, the tears welling in his eyes, clouded his vision.

He took a deep breath and wiped his eyes with the back of his arm before he jerked Will's shirt tail from his pants. He shoved it out of his way, but Will's chest was covered in blood.. "No, No, No" he moaned. Will's breathing was shallow and rapid. But it seemed to be stable, he wasn't gasping at all. His hand's roamed Will's chest and stomach carefully, his fingers probing, searching for any kind of wound. The tension finally left his body, allowing him to breathe easier, when he didn't find anything.

"Will…" Sonny said, "You're going to be okay, stay with me okay?" He pleaded. He moved over to the woman moving rolling her onto her back carefully. She was covered in blood as well. Sonny wasted no time, tearing her shirt open, and immediately found the source of all the blood. She had a large gaping wound, just under her breast bone, it was gushing blood. Sonny pulled his own shirt over his head, and used it to put pressure on the wound. He pressed down until she gasped for air.

"I'm sorry." He said, "Try to lie still." She moaned a licked her lips, "Get me my baby. " She pleaded. She coughed weakly, blood dribbled out of the corner of her mouth. "We will get your baby, don't try to talk, okay." Sonny said.

"Officer." Sonny called over his shoulder, get the baby from that truck and bring her over here. The officer scrambled to obey him. He pulled the baby out of her seat and walked over kneeling on the grass beside the woman's head. The little girl screamed, reaching for her mother. Somehow the woman summoned the energy to reach up and take her hand.

Sonny looked at the officer. "Where the hell is that ambulance?" he asked him. The young officer looked around and then shrugged his shoulder. "Get on your damn radio and find out right fucking now." Sonny bit out.

The officer left the small child at Sonny's knees and went to his patrol car. He appeared back a minute or so later. "We should be hearing the siren any minute they are about 6 minutes away." Sonny nodded and looked at the woman. "Don't worry help is coming." He said.

The woman coughed, spraying blood onto Sonny's forearms. Her cold fingers wrapping around Sonny's wrist. "Take care of my baby… " she whispered, "Promise me, you won't let him have her." She lay her head back against the ground… taking a breath. "Promise me.." she said again, starting to cough.

"I promise you I will do all that I can." Sonny said. "Try to relax." He said. Her breathing became even more shallow. Sonny heard the siren in the distance. He reached up and put two fingers on her pulse point in her neck. Her pulse was weak and thready.

Another patrol car had pulled onto the scene and an older officer that Sonny recognized from precinct 4 came over and squatted down beside Will. He checked him over. "His breathing is shallow, but his pulse is strong and steady, maybe a little fast. But I think for the most part he is okay." He said looking at Sonny. "Will, you're okay man, just stay with us." He said, patting Will's shoulder.

"I think the wind was knocked out of him when he fell, and maybe he hit his head on something." Sonny said noting that they were pretty near a sculpted flower bed.

The ambulance pulled up and a paramedic jumped out. He looked at one of the officers standing on the side lines, "Can you go help my partner get the stretcher he said as he dropped his supply bag at Sonny's knee. "What do we have?" he said directing the question to Sonny. "Gunshot wound, right below her breastbone, fairly close range, she has lost a lot of blood, and is also bleeding from her mouth. Her pulse is weak and thready.

The paramedic pulled some sterile gauze from his suitcase and urged Sonny to move over. Sonny let go of the shirt and moved out of his way. He stumbled to his feet and looked at his hands, they were covered with drying sticky blood. He went over to Will kneeling down beside him. "Will." He said. "Stay with me okay?"

"Tell me about his wounds." The paramedic said gesturing to Will with his chin. He worked, to stop the bleeding as he listened to Sonny. "His breathing is shallow and rapid , but his pulse is steady, and strong. Not sure about any open wounds. Nothing on his stomach or chest." The paramedic looked Will over. "That's a lot of blood on him." He noted. "She fell on top of him." Sonny said, "But I am pretty sure he hit the back of his head." The paramedic nodded. "Can you feel the back of his head and see what you can find?" he asked. Sonny wiped his hands as best as he could on the legs of his pants, then carefully took Will's head in his hands. He felt the back of his head gently. He felt a small gash in the back of his head, it was already covered with hardened blood.

"There is a gash back there, about an inch and a half long." Sonny said, "It feels like it is covered over with dried blood though."

"Good." The paramedic said. "Try to keep him awake." He turned to his partner, "Call dispatch and ask them to send a second ambulance." He said, then get that stretcher down here. We are going to need to move fast. Also ask them to call in to UCMC and ask that they have a trauma team standing by for this young lady." Satisfied that his partner understood his directions he turned back to Sonny. "Do we have an idea what her name is?" Sonny shook his head no. "We do not have any information on her as of yet." He said, knowing that he should be trying to figure out the particulars but he was unwilling to leave Will's side."

"Disptach this is unit 12, we are going to need another ambulance on site at 4765 Maple Lane Chicago, it is for an injured officer of CPD. We will be transporting a young woman to UCMC, she has a close range gunshot wound, requesting that you call ahead and have a trauma team standing by." The other paramedic said into his radio. "10-4, copy that." Dispatch came back.

The other medic pulled the stretcher over and together they transferred her onto it. They loaded the stretcher into the back of the ambulance and the one that had been working with her climbed in the back. He immediately started an IV while the other medic closed the doors and got in. They pulled out, sirens blaring. Sonny closed his eyes and said a prayer for the woman.

He pulled Will into his lap, trying to be careful not to jostle him too much. His eyes were closed and his breathing was still too shallow for Sonny's liking. "Will, Babe, I need you to wake up." He said. He was near tears again. He petted the top of Will's head not knowing what else to do. "I'm awake, Sonny." Will said groggily. He fluttered his eyes open.

An unmarked car screeched to a stop and Threadgill jumped out. He ran over and dropped down beside Sonny. "What the hell happened? Why didn't you two wait in the car, like you were supposed to?" he said. Sonny explained as quickly as he could what happened, before the ambulance arrived to transport Will to the hospital. The two medics jumped out and grabbed the stretcher from the back. They wheeled it over and transferred Will on to it.

"What's going on with him?" The medic asked Sonny, since he was the one clinging to his hand and covered in blood.

"He had the wind knocked out of him pretty good and he has a gash on the back of his head." Sonny said. "I am coming to the hospital with him." He said, looking at Threadgill to make sure that it was okay. Truthfully he was going anyway, and he was pretty sure that Threadgill knew that too. "Go on…" Threadgill confirmed, "We will finish up here and then I will meet you at the hospital, we are going to put Bennett on a 24 hour hold for Assault with a deadly weapon, pending more charges when we find out how she fares from this." Sonny nodded, "Okay, What's going to happen to the little girl?" He asked. "I will pull some strings and stash her with one of my agents until we find out what the hell is going on." He said.

"Good." Sonny said. He watched as they loaded Will into the back of the waiting ambulance. He walked over and was about to climb into the back with him, when Threadgill came up behind him. He pressed an ID Card into his hand. "That is the victims vital information." He said. "The hospital will need that." Sonny took the card and got into the ambulance. They closed the door. On the way to the hospital, Sonny answered all of the questions the medic had to the best of his ability. He wondered briefly if he should call Will's family but quickly dismissed the idea, until he knew more. He looked down at the ID card. Brittany Nicolas, she was just 25 years old, pretty near the same age as himself.

They arrived at the hospital and the door opened. Sonny jumped down and moved out of the way while they unloaded the stretcher. They wheeled the stretcher into the ER and were directed to a room, where they went in and transferred Will to a gurney. A nurse appeared and took the paperwork from him. The paramedic looked at her. "Officer William Horton Chicago PD Age 24, clothes are saturated with blood, mostly not his. He does have an open gash on the back of his head, but the blood has coagulated over the wound. He has been having moderate trouble breathing, with no obvious reason for the distress."

"Thank you." She said. She turned to Sonny. "Who are you?"

"His boyfriend." Sonny answered immediately. She gave him a surprised look. "Also I am his partner on the force." He said pulling his badge from his pocket. "I thought you may be a police officer, they don't usually bring family or significant others back here right away." She explained. Sonny smiled. "I didn't give them much of a choice." He answered. "I am afraid I am going to have to ask you to step out while the doctor examines him and we prepare him for tests." She said.

Sonny nodded. "Alright." He said. He went over to Will. "I will be back as soon as they will let me back in." he said, kissing his forehead. He stepped out of the room just as a middle aged gentleman in a lab coat stepped into the room. He moved over to the nurse's station. It looked to be deserted and he looked down the hall. There was a room at the end that seemed to be overflowing with medical personnel. He walked toward the room, but was stopped in the hall by a stern looking nurse. "Can I help you sir?" she said, blocking his way down the hall. Sonny looked down at himself for the first time. He had almost as much blood on him now as Will did. His under shirt was streaked with blood, his jeans ruined. He must look a sight. "I am looking for information about Brittany Nicolas." He said. She looked at him quizzically, "I'm sorry sir, Who are you looking for?" Sonny stared at her blankly, then remembered that they did not have a name for her, he had her ID and was supposed to be the one telling them who she was. "Her." Sonny said, taking the ID out of his pocket and passing it to the nurse. The nurses eyes softened. "Follow me please." She said.

She led him to a small sterile looking room with a couch and a love seat in it. "Wait here." She said the doctor will be right with you. He sat down on the corner of the couch and rested his head in his hands, he sent up a silent prayer for Will. He prayed that his wounds were nothing serious and that he could take him home once he had been checked over. He tried not to worry but the longer he sat there with no word, the more worried he became.

The door opened and he jumped with the Dr cleared his throat. Sonny got to his feet. "I'm Dr Perez." The Dr. said. "You are Mr. Nicholas I presume." He said. "Mrs. Nicholas's husband?" Sonny looked at his clothes once more. "Me? No, I am Detective Jackson Kiriakis with the Chicago PD." He said. "Ah," The doctor said, "Forgive me, you look genuinely worried, we don't usually see that with law enforcement officers."

Sonny nodded, "I am worried about this young woman, but also my partner was brought in right behind her. He was with her when she was shot." Sonny explained, connecting the dots for him. "Oh My." The doctor said. "I am so sorry to be the one to tell you that Ms. Nicholas did not make it. She lost too much blood and we were unable to stabilize her upon arrival into the ER, Her injuries were too severe and would have been hard for anyone to overcome but especially someone as severely anemic as she was."

Sonny sank back down on the couch, his heart was in his throat. That beautiful little girl was now motherless. Regardless of which Bennett brother had fathered the child, she still had a monster for a father. He had promised that woman that he would find some way to take care of her child and he intended to do just that.

Dr Perez opened the door. "Nurse, could you bring the detective a glass of water please?" He said. He looked at Sonny. "You are looking pale." The nurse came in with the water. "Sir, Officer Horton is asking for you." She said.

"Of course." Sonny said, "Lead the way." He followed the nurse to Will's door where there was another Dr waiting outside to talk to him. "Detective, I am Dr. White." He said. "I have examined Officer Horton and I have ordered a CT scan of his head. At this point it is purely precautionary, but I would rather be safe than sorry. It looks like he hit his head on a sharp rock of some sort, there was a small gash on the back of his head, near the nape of his neck. We were able to stitch that up with no problem. Also we took some X-rays of his chest and stomach since he was showing signs of difficulty breathing. He does have some pretty deep bruising to his chest cavity. It looks as though he was jabbed with some sort of blunt object. That is likely what is causing him to breath shallow, I am sure it is causing him a considerable amount of pain. That should lessen over the next few days, as the bruises begin to heal." He explained.

"I'm sorry you said, 'jabbed with a blunt object?' There was no object." Sonny said. He was confused. "A female who weighed maybe 130 lbs fell on him, but there was no object he could have been hit with." The Doctor looked at Sonny, "It could have been as simple as her elbow being at an odd angle when they fell. Even with her small frame the force of her dead weight falling on him would have been enough to cause the bruising that showed up on the X-Rays. He will be good as new in no time, but he will need to take it easy for at least a week." The Dr said.

"Thank you Doctor." Sonny said shaking his hand. "You will let me know the result of his CT?" he asked.

"Yes Of course." He agreed, "They will be in to take him down for the scan in a couple of minutes."

Sonny nodded and walked into the room. Will was now sitting propped up in his bed. His eyes were not quite as dull looking as they had been. "Hey you!" he said walking over and hugging him gingerly.

"Hey yourself!" Will said smiling. "I love you."

"Love you too." Sonny said, "But if you ever scare me like that again, I am going to beat the hell out of you myself."

Will grinned. "Sorry about that. I won't ever do it again, I promise."

Sonny sat down on the chair beside the bed. "I am so relieved that you are okay." He said, holding Will's hand. He bowed his head, closing his eyes. He was having a hard time controlling his emotions.

"Hey!" Will said, tugging Sonny's hand "You aren't getting rid of me that easy Kiriakis." He teased.

"Good." Sonny said brushing the tears from his face. "I can't lose you." He said seriously.

The door opened and two orderly's walked in. "We need to take you down for your CT scan." One of them said.

"Okay." Will said. "Be back soon." He said turning to Sonny. "I will be here when you get back." Sonny said, stepping out of the way so they could take him from the room. They rolled him out of the room. Sonny went to the door way and watched until they rounded the corner. He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed Threadgill, as soon as he answered he said, "Tell me something good, Kiriakis." He said.

"Will is going to be fine. He has some bruising to his chest and lung area and a cut on the back of his head. They have taken him for a CT scan right now. But he seems just fine."

"Good" Threadgill said. "What about Brittany Nicholas?" he asked. "She um… she didn't make it." Sonny said quietly. "The doctors did all they could but she had lost a lot of blood and she was highly anemic on top of being shot."

"So, now we charge Bennett with Murder 1 and he goes away for a hell of a long time." Threadgill said.

"Yeah, it appears so, By the way where is the child?" Sonny asked, "Did you get her squared away?"

"Yeah she is with one of the female officers in my unit, until we figure out who her father really is or her next of kin is and what we need to do." Threadgill answered. I still have to swing by the station, then I will be around to check on Will." He said ending the call.

He sat down in the chair to wait for Will to come back. He hated hospitals, it was a lot of hurry up and wait every time he was in one. He waited for about 30 minutes, before the door opened and the bed was wheeled back in the room. The orderlies got Will situated and then looked at Sonny. "The doctor should be in shortly with the results." He said.

Sonny nodded. "Thanks" Will said sleepily. Sonny turned to look at him. "Are you tired babe?" he asked concerned. "A little," Will admitted. "The nurse gave me something for pain a little while ago, and you know me, Tylenol makes me sleepy." Sonny smiled, if they had given him pain meds, then it was probably safe for him to sleep. "Close your eyes and rest a bit." Sonny said.

"Hey Sonny." Will said, "How is that young woman doing anyway?"

Sonny bit back a groan, this was not a conversation that he was ready to have right now, but he also was not going to lie to him. "She didn't make it Will." He said. Will struggled to sit up, "What?" he said. "Sonny…. NO."

"I'm sorry Will." He said, he put his hands on Will's shoulders encouraging him to lie back down. "She was shot in the chest, she lost a lot of blood, and she had other medical problems that complicated things. The doctors did all they could." Tears welled up and started trickling down his face again. What the hell was wrong with him today? "I'm so ashamed Will, when I found out she was the one that was shot and not you, I was so relieved, So grateful that it wasn't you." He whispered closing his eyes.

"Hey!" Will said reaching out, touching his face. "It's okay." He comforted him, "That doesn't mean that you wanted her to die, that was just a human reaction." Sonny pressed his face into Will's palm. "I know but I feel terrible for even thinking that way, even though I know I could never stand to lose you, she has a beautiful daughter, a little girl that now will grow up without her mother, and I promised her that I would look out for her little girl." Sonny said.

"Then that's what we will do." Will promised him.

There was a knock on the door and Dr. White came in, "I have the results of your CT." he said holding up the folder. "Everything checks out just fine. We are going to release you to go home, but you are going to need to take it easy for a week or so. I am not saying that you have to be on bed rest, because the moving around will help work the soreness out of your chest, but absolutely no driving for at least 3 days and no gun fights or chasing down criminals." He instructed.

"I will make sure he follows your instructions." Sonny said.

"I will get your discharge paper work done." He said walking out of the room.

"You ready to go home?" Sonny asked.

"I am ready to get out of here." Will agreed.


	22. Chapter 22

"Watch your head." Sonny said, putting his hand on the side of Will's head as he helped him into the car. Jensen had come to the hospital as soon as word had gotten around that Will had been injured. He was going to be driving them home. Sonny shut the door and went around the car, he opened the door on the other side and got into the back seat with him.

"Where to?" Jensen asked when he got behind the wheel. "My place." Sonny said automatically. "I need to get him home and give him something to eat so that he can sleep for a while." Will rolled his head over and looked at Sonny. "That's a nice dream, but we have to get to work. We have to find Bennett." he said.

Sonny looked at Will like he had lost his mind. "WE…" he stressed, "Are absolutely not going to the station right now, it is almost 2 am and you need some rest, I am taking you home so I can take care of you."

"Sonny, we have reports to file." Will persisted. "There is a reason why the brother all the sudden appeared out of nowhere." he mumbled. "We need to find out why." He sighed. That same thing had been bothering him all night, but Will came first and right now he needed rest. "And we will in the morning." Sonny said firmly. Jensen turned onto the interstate and merged into the traffic, and Will leaned his head over on Sonny's shoulder. He was snoring softly after a few minutes.

"The kid has a good point." Jensen said from the front seat meeting Sonny's eyes in the rear view mirror. "It does seem awfully convenient for him to show up now, we really should look into that." Sonny nodded, "Yeah I know, it has been nagging at me all night long too. Really, it was weighing on my mind even before everything happened."

Jensen pulled into Sonny's driveway a short time later. Sonny handed him the key and waited until he got the door open before he woke Will. "Will, come on babe, we have to get you in the house." he said, touching his shoulder gently. Will raised his head up, struggling to open his eyes and look at Sonny. His eyelids felt like they were glued shut and his limbs felt like they weighed a hundred pounds each.

Sonny eased out of the car and urged Will forward. He finally got him on his feet, but he swayed under his weight. Jensen grabbed Will's other side and together they guided him into the house. Jensen headed straight toward the sofa, but Sonny wanted to get him into the bathroom. He was still sticky and bloody and wearing the same jeans he had on earlier. Luckily Jensen had a couple of undershirts in the back of his car, he had offered them to Sonny and Will. He had taken the shirt that Will had on earlier and his own and sealed them in separate hospital bags, just in case they were needed for anything. "Come on, let's get him into the bathroom." he said, leading the way.

Once they had gotten him into the bathroom, Sonny let down the lid of the toilet seat so that he could sit there while he decided what to do. "What did they give him?" Jensen asked, nodding toward Will when he slumped over and laid his head on the bathroom sink. "They gave him a heavy dose of pain meds about an hour before the released him." Sonny said. "Ah, well that makes sense. He is practically comatose." Jensen said. "What are you going to do with him?" he asked.

"Well I need to try and get him cleaned up some, he still has some blood on him from where Ms. Nicholas fell on him when she was shot, they just wiped him down at the hospital with some antibacterial cloths but he needs a bath." Sonny said. Jensen looked over at the huge tub. "I don't think that you will ever get him back out of that swimming pool over there." Jensen said teasingly. "I know," Sonny agreed. "I need to get him in the shower, but I am scared he may fall."

"Do you have a chair you can put in there for him to sit on?" Jensen asked. Sonny thought about that a minute, yes that could work he thought. "Stay with him, let me go and get a chair from the garage." he said, walking out of the room. He came back a few minutes later with a folding chair. He opened it and set it in the shower. Then went over to Will and touched his shoulder. "Will, come on we need to get you in the shower." he said.

"Just want to go to sleep." Will whined. Sonny reached down and started to pull the tank over Will's head. "I know, but you are still gross, you can sleep just as soon as we get these clothes off of you and get you cleaned up some." he explained. "Mmmkay" Will mumbled, raising his arms a little to help Sonny. Jensen stood back and watched Sonny deal with Will. This was the first time that he had ever seen Sonny fuss over someone so much. It was pretty clear to him that Sonny was in love.

Sonny finally got the shirt off of him and tossed it in the trash. "I assume you didn't want these back." he said, looking at Jensen over his shoulder. "You assume correctly." Jensen confirmed.

"Will can you stand up so I can take your pants off?" Sonny asked him. Will leaned his head back and grinned up at Sonny. "Sure." he drawled, grinning like a Cheshire cat. "That would be my cue to take my leave." Jensen said laughing. "I will lock the door on my way out." "Thanks" Sonny said absentmindedly over his shoulder. He heard the door close behind him and then turned his attention back to Will. He looked absolutely, ridiculously adorable with that lazy grin on his face.

He unbuttoned and unzipped Will's pants and then urged him to stand on his feet. When Will stood up, he made sure that he put his hands on the sink to steady himself before he shoved his pants to the floor, taking the boxers with them. He touched Will's ankles one at a time, encouraging him to step out of them, which he did without falling over, miraculously.

Sonny guided him into the shower and into the chair that he had put in there for him. Once he was sure that Will was settled, he stepped out and stripped off his own clothes. He turned the water on, as hot as he dared and grabbed a wash cloth from the cabinet. He was tempted to scrub him down with hand sanitizer, but settled on some antibiotic soap that he had in the cabinet. He washed Will meticulously, grimacing at the faint appearance of the bruises that were beginning to show in his chest. If the purplish color was any indication those were some nasty bruises and Will had to be in pain. He made sure that he was extra gentle when he washed the expanse of his chest. He looked at the cut on the back of Will's head. It looked as though they had glued it closed and then it had a couple of very small stitches in the middle. He had to wash his hair it had dried blood in it. He thought back to the doctor giving him instructions on caring for his wounds. He didn't say anything about not getting them wet. He decided to just wash his hair as quickly as he could, avoiding that area as much as possible. Once he was done, he washed his own body as quickly as he could. He shut the water off and turned to help Will up. Will was slightly more awake than he had been and was gazing at him.

"What?" he asked, looking down to see if he had missed some blood or something. He didn't see anything, so he looked back at Will. Will shrugged his shoulder, but grimaced because it must have hurt at least a little. "No one has ever taken care of me like this before." He said simply. Sonny smiled at him. "Well then I guess no one has ever loved you like I do." He said bending down and brushing their lips together. Will grabbed his chin and opened his mouth, licking into Sonny's. Sonny kissed him back for a second, and then pulled away... "Oh no you don't." he said. "We are getting out of this shower and you are getting into bed, and I am going to fix you something to eat, and then you need to rest." He said helping Will get back on his feet, he held onto him tightly so he wouldn't slip.

They stepped out. He got a towel and wrapped it around his waist and then pulled another one from the shelf and began drying Will off. Once he was satisfied that Will was dry he led him into the bedroom and pulled the covers back on his bed. "Do you want some boxers, or some sweats to sleep in?" He asked. Will shook his head no and climbed underneath the covers. Sonny covered him up and then dried himself off. "I am going to go and fix you some soup or something." Sonny said. Will reached out to him, "No... not hungry." he said. "Can you just get in bed and cuddle me so we can go to sleep?" he asked. "You sure?" Sonny asked. "We can eat breakfast later." Will said wriggling his fingers at Sonny. "Okay." Sonny relented looking at the clock he was surprised to see that it was almost 4 am. He went around the bed and climbed in behind Will, snuggling in close to him. He wrapped his arm around Will's waist. Will scooted as far back as he could, getting as close to Sonny as was possible. As soon as he was comfortable he was asleep.

Sonny on the other hand lay awake most of the night, holding Will, reminding himself that he was okay. For a brief moment when he had saw Will on the ground, he thought that he had lost him... The fear that had gripped his heart had made breathing nearly impossible. He closed his eyes against the sting of the tears that threatened to come once more. Will was fine and that was enough. His thoughts turned to that sweet little girl who was now without a mother. Her mother had died trying to keep that monster away from her, Sonny vowed to himself that he was going to make sure that she had not died in vain he would make sure that he did every single thing in his power to make sure that she was placed in a loving caring home... and if none of her relatives fit that bill... then they would find someone, somewhere that did. Finally, as the light began to shine through the window, he drifted off to sleep...

Sonny woke to the shrill ringing of the telephone. Will was still sleeping peacefully in his arms. He reached over and grabbed the receiver. "Yeah?" He answered. Jensen started talking as soon as Sonny answered.. "Kiriakis, you and pretty boy better get your asses down here.. there was another little girl, 4 years old, Madison Givens, she was taken from her home last night on the east side. She was snatched right out of her bedroom while her parents slept in the next room and that asshole Bennett is nowhere to be found."

"Shit." Sonny swore... "I will be right there but Will is in no shape to work. He is still sleeping, he is going to be in pain when he wakes up, and the doc at the hospital told him to take it easy..."

" Yeah, Yeah... I know, but Chief wants him to come in and help analyze the evidence. He is partnering me with you and Will is going to be here taking it easy but helping to go over evidence files and also in case there are any new pictures that come in..." Jensen explained.

"Okay I will ask him if he feels like it, but I am not forcing him." He said. "Be there in 40 minutes." He put the phone back in the cradle. "Will." He said running his hand down his arm. "Are you awake?" He asked. "Not Very." He said groggily. Sonny chuckled... "Come on babe, listen to me.." He said. "I have to go... another little girl was abducted last night."

"Fuck! I knew it!" Will said immediately trying to sit up... he quickly realized his mistake and relaxed back down on the bed. His chest felt like it was on fire. "Damn..." He said, gasping in small amounts of air. "Hold on" Sonny said "I will get you a pain pill." He threw the covers back and got out of the bed. "No." Will said. "My head needs to be clear so that I can help. Just bring me some aspirin or something." He said, sitting up gingerly.

"Will, why don't you just stay here and rest." Sonny said, "You are in no shape to be going anywhere right now." Will shook his head… "No" he said, "I am going with you." Sonny saw the determined set of his jaw and realized that arguing with him was just going to waste time. Sonny loaned him some jeans and a tee shirt for the day along with a fresh pair of boxers. They got dressed as quickly as Will could and hurried out the door.

They made it to the station in record time and Sonny walked in, beside Will and helped him to the conference room they were using as "Bennett headquarters". The room was buzzing with activity, Agent Threadgill was handing out assignments to the "rookie cops" they had pulled in from every precinct. He was pairing them up with the detectives he had free, basically having them do a little leg work conducting interviews of all the people that live in the area, along with anyone who worked in the area where the little girl was kidnapped. They were all provided with a picture of Madison and the name of a street to canvas.

Once that was done and the room cleared out, Sonny led Will to the front of the room and got him situated behind a makeshift desk. Will was acting tough and anyone who didn't know the subtle differences in the way he was carrying himself would never know it, but Will was in some serious pain. Sonny handed him the small bottle of pain pills that he had pocketed before they left home. "Promise me, if the pain gets too bad, you will take one of these and go lay down in the locker room for a while." He stated. Will looked up and smiled at him. "I promise." He said.

Sonny turned to Agent Threadgill, "What do you want me to do?" He asked. Threadgill looked at him. "I want you to fly to Virginia and Pay Julian Bennett a visit just like we planned and when you get back I want you to stop by and interview the parents of this little girl." He said handing Sonny a picture. "The newest abducted child was 4 years old, blonde haired, with large green eyes. She was very fair skinned leading Sonny to wonder if she ever saw the outside. "How are we supposed to do both in one day?" Sonny asked Threadgill. "You aren't flying commercial, I called in a couple of favors and you guys are going to meet a couple of my guys from the FBI at the airport in an hour, they will fly you there and wait to bring you back. It is an hour and a half each way. So you should be about to be back here by around 5pm this afternoon, he said, glancing at his watch. It was just past 9am.

Sonny nodded. He was apprehensive about leaving Will so soon, but at least he would be back quickly, and if he got there and got down to business it wouldn't take that long. "You going to be okay?" he asked looking at Will. Will smiled and nodded. "Go get him." He said. "Be back as soon as I can." Sonny promised. "Mkay." Will said. Threadgill turned his face to hide his smile. "He will be fine Kiriakis." He said sternly. "I am going to have him working too."

"Don't work him too hard." Sonny said, "He shouldn't even be here." He gave Will a little wave and walked out the door. "Kiriakis." Threadgill called him back. Sonny stuck his head back in the door. "Yeah?" he asked. "Take Jensen with you." He instructed. "Yes Sir." Sonny said, giving him a mock salute.

Sonny walked down the hall to the squad room, looking for Jensen. He was sitting on the corner of his desk on the phone, no doubt with his lady. "See you soon." He said, "I will be back in town in a few hours. Love you too." He dropped the phone into the cradle. "Ready, lover boy?" He asked grinning at Sonny.

"What are you talking about?' Sonny asked, "If I am not mistaken, I just heard you proclaiming your love… not me." He said leading the way out of the room. "Maybe not, but you're in love."Jensen said. "I saw the way you were with Horton last night." He teased. "You are head over hills." Sonny looked at him and smiled. "Yeah, I am." He said, not even considering denying it. "Good for you buddy, you deserve it." Jensen said, genuinely happy for Sonny.

"Thanks man." Sonny said, "Let's get this over with and get back here."

They made it to the airport in record time and checked in. A security officer led them through the airport and into a private room where they could wait for the plane to be prepared for departure. They sat down and Sonny pulled out his phone. He texted Will. "I miss you already." And smiled when the response was immediate… "Miss you more."

"Gentleman," a young man said as he stepped into the room right off the tarmac. "I am agent McKenzie and we are about ready to take off, if you are ready." He said. Sonny and Jensen nodded their agreement. Sonny pocketed his phone and followed the man out the door. He was surprised when there was no plane, but a large helicopter sitting there waiting for them. They made their way to the chopper and climbed in. Sonny sat back and closed his eyes, arranging his list of questions in his mind.


	23. Chapter 23

_**This is the part where something begin to make sense and more questions arise... Thank you all for reading and reviewing. :-) TONYA**_

"We will be back as soon as possible." Sonny told Agent McKenzie as they entered the airport. "Take your time detective." McKenzie said, "We are at your disposal all day today." Sonny nodded and he and Jensen made their way out of the airport. They hailed a cab when they outside. Sonny gave the driver the address of the office building, where they were hoping they would find Julian Bennett.

"What is your plan today?" Jensen asked. "Just going to start off by asking him about the assault of the little girl, try to figure out what the difference is, between Mark and Christopher. See if we can make sense of the difference in the sentences. Then we will go from there." Sonny said. Jensen nodded his agreement; they rode in silence the rest of the way across town.

When the cab dropped them off, Jensen handed the driver the money with a generous tip and asked him to wait for them there. "Of course" the driver said pulling over into the shade and parking the car.

Sonny and Jensen walked into the high rise office building in the heart of downtown Richmond. They looked at the directory map, until they found the suite for B &amp; K consulting. The firm took the entire top floor of the building. They took the elevator, and then stepped out into a spacious lobby. It was tastefully decorated in contemporary art. There was a middle aged petite woman sitting at a ridiculously large mahogany desk, that was oddly bare except for a telephone and a notepad. "Can I help you?" she asked softly.

Sonny pulled his badge from the inside pocket of the sports coat that he wore. He flashed it for her. "We need to see Julian Bennett." He said. Her hand went to her throat and she appeared nervous. "I am not sure he has an available appointment just now." She said. "Give me a moment or two." She said, getting up from the desk and disappearing around a corner.

Sonny and Jensen walked around the lobby, looking at the art that graced the walls. Sonny was already worried about Will. He didn't like being away from him after he was recently injured and being jerked around by these people was not going to improve his mood.

"Gentlemen…" a voice called from behind them. Sonny turned around, to see a well dressed man in a charcoal colored suit, his salt and pepper hair groomed meticulously. "I am Julian Bennett, is there something that I can do for you gentlemen?"

"Could we talk to you privately?" Sonny asked.

"Certainly." Julian Bennett said. "Let's go to my office." He turned and led them down a long hallway and into a large office. He passed the desk and led them over to the seating area. He motioned for them to sit on the couch and he sat across from them in the wing backed chair. "What can I do for you?" he asked.

"Mr, Bennett," Sonny said. "This is Detective Jensen and I am Detective Kiriakis, we are with the Chicago Police department." He said. "We need to talk about your grandsons, Christopher and Mark."

"Oh?" Julian said. "I can understand you coming here wanting to talk about Christopher, nothing that low life did would surprise me. But what does Mark have to do with anything?"

"Mr. Bennett, I think that you should know first off that Mark is being charged with the murder of Ms. Brittany Nicholas." Sonny said.

"What?" he said jumping out of his seat. "What the hell are you talking about, and who in the hell is Brittany Nicholas?"

"Before I can explain anything to you, I need to ask you a few questions." Sonny said. He pulled his phone from his pocket. "Do you mind if I record this?" he asked. Julian Bennett nodded his consent. Sonny pressed the record button. "Mr. Bennett, I need to ask you what happened in 2001 when Christopher and Mark, were in juvenile detention."

"How did you find out about that?" Julian asked, "Those records were sealed."

"We had a judge open the records." Sonny said. "What we need you to help us understand is why Christopher served almost three years while Mark served two weeks."

"Look Mark was always a good boy, until he got involved with Christopher. He is easily influenced, always has been. I told Martin to keep that trash away from Mark, but he insisted he had no choice but to bring him to live with them after his crack whore of a mother died. It was a miracle that Heather, that's Mark's mother, even stayed with him after finding out about the affair, but she did for a while, and then she left him. That was a tragedy to our family, my wife and I loved her like a daughter, she was the only one out of the five women that Martin brought home that was worth a second glance. But Martin always had trouble keeping it in his pants, and one day she just had enough, he come home from work to find a note and the house keys. She took Mark and disappeared. We didn't see Mark again until he was 12 years old. He had gotten mixed in with the wrong crowd, and was letting them get him involved in street gangs and all kinds of bull shit, so Heather dropped him off on Martin's doorstep with a suitcase, in hopes that Martin could keep him out of trouble. Mark was doing well for a while, he was on the right track. He was living with Martin and the last woman he called his wife."

"And who would that have been?" Sonny asked, he was getting confused and wanted to make sure that he was following correctly.

"Maggie, she is Catherine's mother." Julian explained. "She claimed Catherine belonged to Martin, but I always had my doubts. She was a money hungry conniving little bitch, she married Martin because she thought he was rich. He isn't rich, he is too damn sorry to work, but she ended up with the money anyway."

"What do you mean?" Sonny asked.

"Child protective services showed up on Martin's doorstep with Christopher, in January 2001, saying that his mother was dead, she had died from a drug overdose and that Christopher would either be his responsibility or they would put him into the foster children program. Christopher was just before turning 15 years old and Mark was already 16. I begged Martin to let them have him. I had been keeping tabs Christopher and his mother for years, after all he was my first grandchild. But he was no good. From the time that he was old enough to cause trouble, he did, everywhere he went. He was into drugs like his sorry mother. I told Martin no good would come of having him live with them, I knew it would mean trouble for Mark. But Martin wouldn't listen to me, spouted some shit about doing the right thing. But it wasn't the right thing for Mark or for the little girl that he claimed to be his, her name is Catherine." He paused. "I am sure you already knew that."

"She is the half sister that they tied to the tree right?" Sonny asked.

Julian nodded slowly, "Yes," He answered. She was a beautiful child, full of love and light, even though I doubted she belonged to Martin, my wife Colleen, God rest her soul, loved that child fiercely."

"I'm sorry your wife has passed." Jensen interrupted him, wanting to be clear.

Julian Bennett nodded again sadly, "Yes, she died last year, after suffering a massive heart attack." He answered, before falling silent. Sonny and Jensen gave him a minute to see if he was going to continue, when he didn't Sonny prompted him.

"So we know what happened to Catherine, but we don't know why or what happened after with the sentence." Sonny said.

"Christopher convinced Mark that Catherine was the reason for them not being able to go places, and do things. They always had to stay home because Catherine was always sickly. So they had to help with their sister. Christopher told Mark that they could hurt her, and she would have to go to the hospital that way they would be free to do what they wanted, because everybody would be too busy taking care of her, to notice them. Mark of course being a follower went along with whatever Christopher wanted."

"Mark is really that stupid? He just does whatever he is told?" Sonny asked, he wasn't buying it at all.

"He isn't stupid." Julian practically spat at him… "He is just easily influenced, The doctors say that he has the mentality of a small child when it comes to making decisions."

"What do you mean decisions?" Jensen asked. "You mean decisions like does he want soda or tea with his meal…. Or decisions like to kill someone or not?" he said, needing more information.

"The doctor just says that he has a type of anxiety disorder, and paranoia, but he doesn't have the normal triggers. That's all I can tell you about that, you will need to talk with his doctor if you need further information." Julian said.

"I think we will need the name of the doctor." Sonny said. "That is a good idea."

Julian nodded, "So Catherine's mother left them alone with her long enough to run to the market, and that's when they did those unspeakable things to that little girl. Her mother came back to find her still tied to the tree. Christopher and Mark were in their room, playing video games. Christopher denied knowing what happened to her, but Mark broke down when the cops questioned him and admitted what they had done. I knew that it was all Christopher's idea and I knew that Mark could be different without Christopher around, so I went to Catherine's mother, and I agreed to pay her a large sum of money to drop the charges against Mark."

"Why would a mother, agree to that, after something so horrible had been done to her child?" Sonny interjected.

"She agreed of course because she wanted the money, and because she knew what Mark was like before Christopher came to live with them. Her only stipulation was that she was taking the child and leaving the state, she asked us to never contact her again. That was fine with me, Colleen was pretty upset when she found out they were gone, but she got over it." He said, looking at them. "Is there anything else I can help you with, before you tell me what the hell is going on with Mark?" he asked.

"Just a couple more questions." Sonny said. "Is there anything that you can tell me about Christopher, in recent years?" he asked.

"I haven't really been keeping up with him, in the last year or so." He hasn't had any contact that I was aware of with Martin, or Mark, so I thought, But I am guessing that you are going to tell me that I am wrong about that."

"Unfortunately that is correct." Jensen said. "Mark saw Christopher Bennett last night. We followed him from Christopher's apartment, just before he murdered a young woman."

"I knew it." Julian said. "Christopher always involves other people in his messes, so you must have had him under some kind of surveillance then, what has he done now?"

Sonny looked at Jensen and nodded. "We have reason to believe that Christopher is involved in a case where young girls are being abducted and molested." Jensen informed him.

Julian dropped his head into his hands. "Oh dear God." He said. "You have proof of this?" he asked looking at Sonny and then Jensen.

Sonny nodded slowly, "We are building a case against him. Can you tell me anything that may help us? I take it that you have no clue who Brittany Nicholas is?"

"No I don't recognize that name." Julian answered, "Who is she again?"

"She is the young lady that Mark murdered last night." Sonny said. "He seemed to think that her little girl was his daughter. He was trying to take her away from her mother."

"That doesn't make any sense." Julian said, "Mark doesn't have any children, if he did I would know about it. I don't even think Christopher has any children. Do you have a picture of Brittany Nicholas?" he asked.

Sonny pulled a photo from his jacket and handed it Julian. "That's her." He said. Julian looked carefully at the photo. "I recognize her, but I don't remember her name being Brittany, She wasn't around long, Mark dated her about three years ago, for a very brief time, maybe 2 months, but she could not deal with his paranoia. She broke it off and as far as I know he never saw her again. How old did you say the child is?" He asked Sonny.

"About two years, we assume, she is in protective custody right now." Sonny said.

"I don't know who she belongs to, but she isn't Mark's child." Julian said.

"Thank you." Sonny said, "That helps. Has Christopher ever had a lasting relationship that you know of?" he asked.

"There was one girl several years ago, a real smart girl, I always wondered what she saw in him." He said. "Her name was Natasha something. She was a law student."

"Whitfield?" Sonny supplied. "Was that her?"

"Yes, that's it." Julian said. "She was a law student, brilliant girl. She and Christopher were together for over a year. I thought that she was going to help him get his shit together. Then one day she up and left, just disappeared off the face of the earth. That was the only time I ever seen Christopher affected by any kind of remorse."

"What did he have to be remorseful about?" Jensen asked. "Did he do something to her?"

"No he didn't hurt her if that is what you are asking. But they must have had one hell of a fight. As I mentioned I have been keeping tabs on Christopher until the last year or so. My contact at Werner Construction, which was where he was working back then, said that she came to the job site one day, guns blazing so to speak, she let him have it, something about wasting her college money to pay his bookie or something like that… anyway according to my source she told him she never wanted to see him again, and tore out of there on two wheels. I felt bad that he had taken her money. I didn't really give a shit about helping him, but I hated to see the girl suffer for falling in love with him. I tried to find her, I wanted to offer to give her back her college money. She was nowhere to be found. It was almost like she never existed."

Sonny looked at Jensen, who was confused, with everything that had been going on, Sonny had never updated him on this part of the case. Can you tell me what she looked like? Hair color, Eye color, height, weight? Anything you can remember could be helpful."

Julian sat back in the chair, he closed his eyes. "She may have been 5ft, 4 or 5 inches with auburn colored long straight hair. I would be surprised if she weighed an ounce more than 110 lbs. That's about all I can remember."

"That's very helpful." Sonny said. "Thank you for taking the time to talk to us." Sonny said, glancing at his watch. He was surprised to see that it was already after 2pm. He stood up and offered his hand to Julian Bennett. "If you can think of anything else that may help us, please contact me." He said pulling a card from his wallet and handing it to the older man.

"Of course." Julian Bennett said, tucking the card into his jacket pocket. He moved to his desk and flipped through his rolodex pulling a card from it. He handed it to Sonny. "That is the name, address, and contact information for Mark's doctor. I will call ahead and ask that they cooperate with you in any way they can. I will also be sending my attorney down to handle Mark's case. I am very surprised that he hasn't called me yet."

"He hasn't been formally charged yet, he is still on a 24 hour hold." Sonny said.

"Thank you Detectives'." He said. "Allow me to show you out." He walked them back to the lobby, where he directly turned to the receptionist. "Call Lloyd, Grant, and Warrington and tell Malcolm to get his ass over here pronto." He told her. "Thank you again detectives, I will be in touch." He said.

Sonny and Jensen walked out the door, and back to the cab that was still waiting in the shade of the large tree. The climbed into the back. "Hope you guys really wanted me to wait." He said. "I had to keep the meter running, we are at $60."

"That's fine." Jensen said, "Back to the airport please." The cab driver nodded and pulled out of the parking lot.

"What was that last part about?" Jensen said. "About the girl from his past."

"Will and I stumbled on some information about a joint checking account, the girl that was with him is now in the witness protection program." Sonny said.

"Damn this keeps getting more and more complicated by the minute doesn't it." Jensen said.

"Yeah you can say that again." Sonny said. "I don't know how many more circles I can turn in before I go crazy."

"We are getting there." Jensen said, "We are picking it apart little by little."

"I know it just isn't happening fast enough." Sonny said.

The cab pulled into the departing passengers lane and up to the door. "Here you go?' He said, slowing to a stop. Jensen took a $100 from his wallet and handed it to the driver. "Thanks a lot." He said.

"Wow." Sonny said, "Feeling generous today huh." He laughed as they got out.

"I got two words for you, my man." Jensen said.

"Oh yeah?" Sonny said. "What are they… Dumb and ass?"

"No" Jensen scoffed.. "Expense report."

Sonny laughed and shook his head. They walked through the airport, breezing through security after showing their badges. They were almost to the meeting room where the pilot's were supposed to be waiting for them, when Sonny's phone rang. He looked at the caller ID, it was Agent Threadgill. "Hey," he said answering the phone, "We are about to head back and I have a shit ton of stuff to report, hopefully something that will lead us to new evidence." He said.

"That's great Sonny," Threadgill said. "We can talk about all of that later, right now I have to tell you something." He said. Suddenly Sonny recognized the catch in Threadgill's voice. A cold chill crept down his spine.

"Is Will alright?" he said. Silence greeted him on the other line….. "Is it Will?" he said again starting to panic.

"Sonny… No." Agent Threadgill said. "Will is fine, he is right here."

Sonny's breath left him in a whoosh… "What's wrong then?" He asked.

"The little girl, Madison Givens, the one that was abducted last night." He said softly.

"Yes," Sonny said. "As soon as I get back into town, I am going to meet with her parents."

"She was found dead just about 20 minutes ago." Threadgill said. "We are on our way to the crime scene, right now. With all the pictures that have been on the news, and social media, the Civilian that found her was able to make a positive ID of the body. We think she was dumped behind the mall several hours ago."

"NO." Sonny almost yelled into the phone… "This cannot be happening." Jensen saw the stricken look on Sonny's face and took the phone from him. "This is Jensen" he said.

He listened as Threadgill recounted what he had just told Sonny… and then gave him the vicinity of the crime scene. "We will be there as soon as we can." Jensen said, before disconnecting the call.

They walked into the meeting room. The pilots were already there. "We need to get home as soon as you can get us there." Jensen said.

"We are ready to go, right now." The head pilot said leading the way out the door.

They climbed into the helicopter and buckled in their safety harnesses. Sonny never said one word, the whole ride back to Chicago, but he was grateful for Jensen's comforting hand over his own. This was another thing he was never going to forgive himself for.


	24. Chapter 24

Sonny and Jensen were out of the helicopter as soon as they touched down, Sonny had used the hour and a half flight back to go over all the information Bennett had given them in the short time that they had spent with him. It was a lot to process and he was going to have to talk to Mark Bennett at some point. He wondered if he even realized that his brother had used him for a distraction. They hurried out of the airport, rushing to the car that they had parked there earlier. He got into the passenger side and allowed Jensen to drive him across town.

Sonny was in a hurry to get there and at the same time he was dreading it. He didn't want to see the body of the little girl. They had been given no details about the cause of her death, and Sonny almost didn't want to know. He felt as if he may be sick. All the things that he could have done differently were rolling around in his mind. He wondered if the little girl was being tortured, maybe raped and then murdered while he was lying in bed with Will, rejoicing in the fact that he was still alive. Thanking God for sparing him the grief of losing the one good thing in his life. Maybe if he had taken Will home and gotten him settled, then went out looking for her, he could have saved her life.

Jensen pulled off of Randolph St into the back lot of the Atrium shopping mall, he followed the zigzagging path that the delivery trucks followed. Sonny noted that the area would normally be busy during the early morning and afternoon hours, but was strangely deserted at this time of the evening. He looked at his watch, it was just past 5pm. He guessed that most deliveries happened in the morning hours. Maybe that meant that there was a chance that someone saw something… he could hope at least.

Jensen followed the road a little longer until they stopped just outside the area marked with Police tape. Sonny took a deep breath and stepped out of the car. The coroner's van was already there and the back doors were closed up tight, but the side door was open. There was a gurney holding a small body bag already in the van. Sonny shuddered as he walked by. He tried his best to push his emotions aside. He  
stepped under the tape and took the gloves and shoe covers that were handed to him by an officer in uniform. He put the covers on over his shoes and slipped his hands in the gloves, then waited as Jensen did the same.

They walked over to the cluster of detectives that were gathered beside a dumpster. Sonny felt bile rise up in his throat at the thought of the little girl being tossed in the dumpster like someone's trash. He forced himself to keep going. As he walked forward the officers parted, making an opening for him. He finally saw Agent Threadgill and Detective Williams, Jensen's new partner standing there. There were also a couple more agents that Sonny recognized from the meetings about the case.

Sonny walked up to him, "What happened?" He asked straightaway. Agent Threadgill looked up. "Good you're here." He said. He looked at the other agents. "You all know Detective Kiriakis, he is the lead on this case as of right now, and this is Detective Jensen." He said, nodding toward the other man. "Follow me." He said leading them behind the dumpster and out into the overgrown grass. Sonny noticed right away that the grass was pretty trampled in one area. A man Sonny recognized as the Deputy Chief Medical Examiner, Mason Dupree, was taking careful pictures of the area.

"Was she killed here?" Sonny asked looking around. It was a pretty open area, despite being behind a shopping mall. "No, at least we don't think so." Threadgill answered him. "We think that he dumped her  
body here just before daylight. With the preliminary examination of the body, Mason puts the time of death around 4am." Sonny looked at him. She could not have been missing more than a few hours before she was killed. This was going to be different than every other case that they had been working.

"Do we know what time she was taken from her house?" He asked. Agent Threadgill shook his head, "No, at least not an exact time." He pulled a notebook from his shirt pocket. "Child's father says that they put her to bed at approximately 8:30pm, and looked in to make sure she was asleep just after 10pm, they watched a little TV, his wife took her sleeping pill and they went to bed right around 11pm."

"They didn't hear anything, no noises, no alarm system?" Jensen asked. "According to her father, he is a sound sleeper and his wife usually sleeps heavy for several hours after taking that medicine. He indicated that she normally does not take it if she has less than eight to nine hours dedicate to sleep." Threadgill answered, still consulting his notes.

"What time did they find out she was missing?" Sonny asked. "Mr Givens woke up to get a drink of water, went in to check on the child, she was not in her bed, he immediately called 911, The frantic call came into 911 dispatch at 5:22 AM. Officer's Maxwell and Phillips were in the area, they ran the call, and confirmed that the child was actually missing. They called for detectives at exactly 5:47AM." Threadgill answered. "That was when I decided to check on the whereabouts of Christopher Bennett. I sent  
Williams there to tell him about his brother, a woman answered the door and said that she had not seen him since early yesterday evening. At that point I went to the Givens residence myself. I interviewed them both, looked over the house and called you on my way back to the station, at 7:30AM." Threadgill answered.

"I see." Sonny said, "What were your thoughts on this when you talked to Mr. and Mrs. Givens?" He asked. "I was almost positive even when I was on my way over there that Bennett snatched the child, but now... there are so many differences, he has never killed one of the victims that we know of... Always let them go just several hours after taking them... There has always been a picture, but not this time." Threadgill said talking out all the thoughts that were rumbling around in his mind.

"What is the official cause of death?" Sonny asked. "Strangulation" Threadgill answered. "She has deep bruising around her throat, that looks like it could have been done with some sort of cloth." Sonny thought for a minute, "Maybe he didn't mean to kill her, maybe things got out of hand. Maybe he was trying to control her with the fear that he would strangle her, could it be possible that he was trying to scare her and she fought him. That could lead to him dumping her body here like this, in a rush. If this is Bennett, then it certainly didn't go his way like all of the other times he has done this.

"What was the condition of the body when she was found? Was she tied up? Was she clothed or naked? Was there any sign of struggle, any bruising?" He asked. Threadgill opened his mouth to answer, when Dupree walked up. "I think I have everything I need from here. Your detectives are free to explore the area now. I will get started on the examination of the body and have a report for you as soon as possible." he said.

"Thanks." Threadgill said, he put his hand on Sonny's shoulder, "Kiriakis here is the lead detective on the case, we will be dropping by the morgue later today to see what you found in your examination."  
Dupree nodded. "Would you mind telling us the condition of the body, before you go?" Threadgill asked. "Sure, I will tell you what I know as of right now. I can tell you that this little girl put up one hell of a fight. She has defensive and offensive bruising, for example her fists are bruised along the outer edges, the thumb of her right hand is tucked into her fist. He legs are scratched up, almost from hip to toe. I have bagged her hands and feet, hopefully we will be able to pull some DNA evidence from under her nails. She was not restrained, nor did I find any ligature marks on her skin to indicate that she was restrained before he killed her. Her small body seems to have suffered a pretty brutal sexual assault. I estimate the time of death to be approximately 4 AM, give or take Twenty to Thirty minutes and I would estimate that given the core temperature and condition of the body that she was out here and exposed to the elements anywhere between six and eight hours." He said, "Gentleman, that is all that I have right now. I will have more by the time you come by later this afternoon." Threadgill nodded, "Sounds good." He said. Dupree gave a little wave and hurried toward the van, where one of his assistants was waiting to drive him back.

"Shall we?" Threadgill said, motioning toward the direction that Mason Dupree had just come from. Sonny took a couple steps forward but paused when he heard a familiar voice calling his name. "Sonny..."

He turned around to see Will walking slowly toward him, "What are you doing here, Will?" He asked. "You should be resting." Will stopped in front of him, unsure of what to do. He wanted to hug him, to tell him that everything would be okay. He knew Sonny well enough by now to know that he was blaming himself for this, but he also didn't want to embarrass him in front of all of their colleges. "I had to come, to check on you... but also to bring this." He said holding up a manila envelope. Sonny had been so focused on Will that he hadn't even seen the envelope.

"What's that?" Threadgill said, holding out his hand. Will held the envelope back, "You need gloves, but it is the latest picture." He stated. Threadgill gaped at him, "There was no picture, what are you talking about?" He fired off. "Well apparently there was a picture, it was delivered by messenger to the station just about an hour ago in an envelope that was addressed to 'Detective Jackson Kiriakis'..." Will said. Threadgill opened his mouth, but Will held up his hand. "We basically cross examined the messenger, he was called from a phone number that we traced to a payphone inside the train station, the man asked him to pick up an envelope at the L train station on North State street. It was taped under a bench along with the cash payment for the delivery." He informed them. "The messenger went there, got the envelope and then delivered it to the police station just like he was paid to do. He did say that he felt like something could be really wrong when he saw that the address that he was supposed to deliver to was a police station. But he also said that he deals with clients that ask him to make strange and shady deliveries all of the time, so he didn't think it was all that odd. I have his name and contact number in case we need to ask him any more questions." Will finished.

"We need to pull the security tapes from the train station." Sonny said. Will smiled, "I already had the chief call and request those." Sonny grinned at Will. "Or course you have." Threadgill had obtained a  
pair of gloves and took the envelope from Will. He carefully pulled the photo from the envelope. It was much like the others. The child was in the middle of the photo, lying on her side, her hair brushed  
carefully back from her face, her clothes in a disarray, her small pajama shorts ripped in several places. Her shirt crumpled and scrunched up under her arm pits. There were marks that appeared to be fingertips bruises across her cheek. Her eyes held the unmistakable look of fear. This photo like all of the  
others had the small bits of green letters in them, peeking out from between her arms and legs. "Did you see anything new here?" Threadgill asked looking at Will.

Will nodded, "It isn't much but... look here," he said directing Sonny and Threadgill's attention to the bottom left corner of the photograph. " Do you see that lighter green blotch, there the curve, forming sort of a curved point. I think that is a S, look here," he said pointing at the expanse of the photograph between the child's ankles, "it is the same color, and more of the same color here." He said, pointing to another curve forming a point curved in the opposite direction... "I examined it over and over and I think that it is a S, it is the only thing that makes sense, and it is a different color and a thicker font maybe." "Okay, but why isn't it the same color as the other letters?" Threadgill asked. "It think it is possible that it is faded, or maybe even it was designed that way, I am really not sure yet." Will explained. Threadgill considered that for a moment, "Either of those scenarios could be true." He said. "Let's go take a quick look over here." Threadgill said motioning to where the Givens child was found. "This photo proves that the child was likely killed someplace else and dropped here." He said. The Crime scene unit had already been over the area with a fine tooth comb. They had taken several buckets full of the dirt that had been directly under her body to the crime scene lab to sift through it. Once they had looked around the area, seeing nothing unusual, they walked back to the area where the cars were parked.

Threadgill looked around, he saw who he was looking for. "Detective Williams," He said summoning him and Jensen over to them. "Can you and Jensen run down and do one more check to see if Bennett is back at his apartment. I think we could at least bring him in, to question him about his interactions with his brother last night...Let's see how nervous we can make him, shall we?" He asked. "Sure thing," Jensen said, " We would be glad to." Williams followed Jensen to his car.

Threadgill looked over at Sonny, "One of us has to go and tell her family before this hits the news." He said. "If you want to take Will back to the station so that he can rest, I will go tell her." Sonny nodded gratefully. He knew that he should go and tell them, since that was his fault… but he could not bring himself to do it. "Thanks." He said, meaning it with all of his heart. Threadgill called one of the other agents over and enlisted him to go with him. Sonny watched them go and get into Threadgill's car before turning to Will.

"How did you get here?" Sonny asked Will. "Ummm, I drove myself." Will said looking shamefully down at his feet, he motioned to an unmarked car parked over near the building. "Well I am driving you back, Will, you know what the Dr said, absolutely no driving for 72 hours." Sonny scolded him. "I know, but I had to get to you. I was worried about you." Will explained. "Come on," Sonny said, opening the door for Will. He blushed, "You don't have to open the door for me, especially not at work." He said. "I know, but I want to." Sonny said. "Now get in."

Sonny backed up carefully and pulled back into the narrow lane for the delivery trucks. He drove slowly around the back of the building, looking as he was driving trying to see if there were any windows or any place where someone could have been looking out toward the area where the body was found without being seen themselves. He really did not see anything. Once he had pulled back out on the main highway he reached over and wrapped his fingers around Wills.

"Tell me how you are really feeling and don't lie to me." Sonny said.

"Honestly," Will said. "I have a terrible headache, and most of the time I feel like there is an elephant on my chest and I cannot breathe well. Then I try and take a deeper breath and I remember why I am breathing shallow, because when I take that deep breath it feels like someone is ripping out my lungs. So then all of the sudden, the elephant does not look so bad." He answered honestly.

"Babe, why haven't you taken your medicine?" Sonny asked. "Why don't you go home, or at least go back to the station and rest. You should not be traipsing around after me." He said. "I am going to take you home now." He said. He immediately veered onto the interstate.

"No," Will said, "I am not going home like some invalid, I want to help as much as I can." Sonny looked at him "You need to rest, Will, I mean it. I am not going to take chances with your health." He said. "Sonny, I will stay at the station, I promise, I will even lie down for a little while. But I don't want to be home alone while you are out working on this case." He said.

"Fine." Sonny relented. He looked up at the road, it took him a few minutes to realize where he was. He realized that he had missed his exit a few exits back. He had been so busy arguing and fretting about Will's health that he had not been paying close enough attention to the exit signs.

He followed the interstate to the next exit and pulled off onto the ramp. The stretch of road brought back so many memories for Sonny. He hadn't been back to this part of town since he played little league sports all of those years ago. He thought about it, he must have been Five or Six years old. It had always been a great time, when he was allowed to spend the summers at home. It wasn't until the summer that he was seven years old that his parents had discovered boarding schools that cared for children year round. After that summers at home were almost a thing of the past. But those couple of years he had played football, basketball, baseball… just about whatever they were offering. He smiled as he remembered the good times.

"What are you thinking about?" Will asked.

"Oh, I was just thinking that I used to play little league sports in this area. I haven't been to this area since the last time I played." He said. "I think I was maybe five or six. It is almost hard to remember way back then." He said. The team was called 'Southside Hawks." His eyes grew wide… "It couldn't be? Could it?" He said. He swerved off the side of the road and onto the shoulder of the road. "No… it isn't possible." He said, lying his forehead onto the steering wheel.

"What is it?" Will asked. He was beginning to worry about Sonny… He reached out and touched his shoulder, "Sonny what's wrong?" he asked again.

"I know what the writing is on the photos." Sonny moaned. "How did it take me this long to figure this out?" he whined. "What are you talking about Sonny?" Will asked. "Start at the beginning, and tell me everything."


	25. Chapter 25

"I used to play little league sports around here." Sonny said, taking a deep breath. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. He nodded his head toward a general direction off of the freeway. "Right over there in that area, I played football, baseball, basketball…. Whatever sport they were offering at the time. Before my parents discovered that there were schools that housed kids straight through the summer. Anyway all of the jersey's pretty much carried the same logo, for the Southside Hawks… It was green, and the writing was always curvy. When I was young I used to wonder why they let girls write the names on everything."

Will's mind raced as Sonny talked. One by one, things were clicking together for Will. "by any chance was the logo printed on the floor of the gym?" Will asked, holding his breath, until his lungs were burning.

Sonny nodded frantically, "It was… but I thought they tore that building down long ago. They were supposed to build a new Sports Plex in the area."

"Well, I guess they didn't." Will said. "We better get in touch with Threadgill as soon as possible. We are going to need to decide what we are going to do."

Sonny nodded, "Call him." He said as he merged back into the traffic. He followed the road on around to the next exit and then pulled onto the exit. Will was already dialing Threadgill's number, when Sonny took a turn that led them closer to the sports plex and away from the freeway. He hung up quickly.

"Sonny, what are you doing?" Will asked. "If you are right and Bennett is anywhere near here, if he see's us, it is over. He will run, and we may never find him."

"I know." Sonny said. "I just wanted to see if the building is still there before we report anything to Threadgill." He turned down one side street and around a corner. Everything around them was falling down, the buildings dilapidated. Sonny pulled to a stop at the next stop sign. "There it is." He said, pointing to a building that had seen its better day. It looked like it was barely standing. Sonny made a move to turn down the long driveway. The weeds had long since taken over the path, but it was obvious that someone had been through them more than a few times in recent months.

A movement behind the building caught Will's attention. The dim streetlight from across the street, gleamed off of something that was possibly glass. "Sonny… wait." Will said, pointing to the road.. "Let's go.." he said. Sonny pulled back into the road and sped off.

"Did you see that?" Will asked. "There was someone back there." Sonny nodded. "Yeah, I thought it was my imagination."

"No." Will said. "I think it was a dark colored pickup truck, or some kind of vehicle. It was just almost hid by the ridiculously high grass and weeds."

"It's probably him." Sonny said. "That bastard is probably planning his next move." He said, his fingers tightening on the steering wheel. Will's phone rang.. He looked down at the Caller ID. "It's Threadgill." He said clicking the answer button and putting the phone to his ear.

"Horton." He said, answering the phone quickly.

"Sorry I missed your call, I just left the Given's house, I always hate giving that kind of news." Threadgill said. "What do you have?"

"Don't worry about it, I kinda figured…" Will said, letting his sentence trail off. "We may have a lead." He told Threadgill. "A pretty big one, I think. Can you meet us at the station in like 15 minutes?" he asked.

"Yeah, I will be there. How big of a lead are we talking about?" he asked. "I think it could be a really big break actually." Will said. "I was thinking we should call anyone in that has been working this case, especially the ones that have been on from the beginning. I am going to call Captain Haskins and Chief Morwessell to see if they can wait at the station, they should be there for the meeting."

"It must be big then." Threadgill answered. "Let me make some calls and I will see you there."

Will disconnected the call and looked at Sonny. "Everyone will be there." He said. Sonny nodded and sped toward the station. "When we get there…. After the meeting" Sonny said quietly, "I really want you to lie down and rest, I know you are in pain." Will just nodded and pressed another button on his phone. He listened to it ring on the other end. Sonny reached out and touched his arm. "I mean it Will, Please?" Will grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. "Okay Sonny, If it will make you feel better." Sonny smiled and nodded.

"Got the Chiefs voice mail" He said. He left a message for him to call or come back to the station for the meeting and immediately dialed Captain Haskins.

"Haskins." He answered on the first ring. "Hey sir, Glad I caught you." Will said, "This is Officer Horton, we may have had a break in the case, we are having a meeting in 10 minutes, can you be there?" he asked. "Of course, I am still here talking to the Chief, I will be there." Haskins answered. "Great!" Will said, "I just left a message for Chief Morwessell, can you bring him along to the meeting, we will be there in a few minutes."

"See you then." Captain Haskins said, hanging up the call.

Will laid his phone to the side. "I hope that we can get Bennett now." He said. "Hopefully there is some kind of evidence there that points to him." Sonny nodded, "Me too, and at some point I need to get down and talk to Mark Bennett, he may know something."

They pulled into the parking garage at the station and Sonny parked. He jumped out and ran around the car opening Will's door for him. "Come on Babe." He said, helping him out. Will was putting on a brave face, but Sonny could tell that he was in some pain. He really wished Will would skip the meeting and go lie down and rest, but he was sure that was not going to happen. He was just worried that he was going to overdo it and end up in the hospital again.

When they got in the conference room, there were several detectives and a few of Threadgill's agents already there. But Threadgill, Chief Morwessell, and Captain Haskins were not there yet. Sonny ushered Will to the front of the room and waited for him to sit down at his make shift desk. Once Will was seated, he rushed from the room; and hurried to the locker room. He looked in the first aid kit, and grabbed the bottle of ibuprofen. Sonny poured a few into his hand and grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator, before he went back to the meeting room. He made his way back to the front of the room and handed the pills and the bottle of water to Will.

Will looked up at him and nodded gratefully. He swallowed the pills with a gulp of water. "Thanks." Will said. Sonny nodded, he still wanted to insist that Will go and lie down, but that probably would probably be going too far.

Sonny turned to see that most everybody was now accounted for except for Jensen and Detective Williams who were trying to track down Bennett's whereabouts. He decided that he would fill them in later.

"Thank you all for coming so quickly." Sonny addressed the room, "Will and I were coming back from the crime scene a little earlier and I missed my exit off the freeway, while thinking about the case." Sonny said. "Anyway in ended up in the neighborhood where I used to play little league.." There was a collection of "Awes" from the crowd… "Shut up." Sonny said, "This is revelent I promise." Sonny said… He launched into his story about how all of the little leagus sports in the area had basically the same logo, telling them there was a small sports plex on the south side that had been home to the team.

Will got an idea, he opened the computer that was in front of him on the desk. Bringing up the internet, he quickly started searching for a logo for the Southside little league team… He was coming up empty, since there was no longer a team. He stopped and thought back over his conversation with Sonny.. what had he called the team? …. The Hawks? Right?… He typed in 'Southside Hawks little league basketball' and a picture of the outside of the sports plex opened in front of him. Sonny was in the middle of laying out the way the logo was painted onto the floor of the gymnasium, Will raised his hand to get Sonny's attention.

When he stopped and looked at Will expectantly, Will motioned him over, "Is this it?" He asked, motioning to the picture he had pulled up on the screen. Sonny walked over and looked at the picture. "Yes, that's it" Sonny said excitedly. "Can you print that for me." He asked. Will nodded and hit the print button, he moved to get up to go and get it from the printer. Sonny put his hand on Will's shoulder holding him down. He motioned to one of the detectives at the back of the room. "Will you grab that off the printer across the hall for me?" Sonny asked. The detective got up and stepped out of the room. "Will, call down to the analyst's office and see if Garth is still down there. I wanted to see what he thinks about this."

Will nodded and picked up the phone. He pressed the button labeled evidence analyst office and waited to see if someone would pick up. After about fifteen rings, someone picked up and rattled off a sentence that must have been twenty words long in the span of two seconds. Will recognized Garth right away. "Garth, this is Officer Horton, he still wasn't comfortable calling himself detective yet, can you come up to the conference room for the Bennett case, we have new evidence."

"On my way now." Garth said hanging up. Will wondered briefly if he walked as fast as he talked. Then shook his head, he was getting delusional, or maybe his head was just hurting that much.

"He's on the way." Will said to Sonny. Sonny nodded gratefully. "Thank you." He said. It wasn't more than two or three minutes when Garth opened the door and came into the room. Sonny immediately handed him the picture that Will had printed out. "This is the logo from an old dilapidated sports plex that I used to play little league at. Willl and I went by there tonight and it is still standing over on the southside. But what I really want you to concentrate on is the logo, against the green blemishes that are in all of the photos."

"You got it, Garth said moving over to the photo board and examining them against the photo that he held in his hand. He nodded, and mumbled to himself, turning the picture this way and that. Will shrugged Sonny's hand off of his shoulder and stood. He eased over to Garth. He watched as he looked at them from every angle, and then stood back and looked at the pictures as a whole.

"What do you think?" Will asked. Clearly startling the other man. Garth jumped at the voice so close to him, he turned to look at Will. "The more I look at this, the more I am convinced that there are words, this is quite possibly the answer that we have been looking for. Look here," Garth said, pointing to the first letter of the word Southside, and the last letter of the word Hawks" in the picture that had been printed from the internet, See how they are both slightly bigger than the rest of the letters. Not only are they taller they are thicker, it seems like the person who designed this logo wanted the first and the last letter to sort of frame the name, in other words they were designed to stick out… I would be willing to bet that they are a slightly different color, even though it isn't really visible in this picture. The color, or the size either one would make them stand out, but together it is almost all that you see. Now take into consideration that we have been thinking all along that this is fancy writing, maybe a cursive font, or even some type of modern calligraphy, but looking at this now together, I think that it is possible that these letters are what we are seeing, just in very little pieces." Garth finished. "Your thoughts?" Will took the photo that Garth was holding out to him. "I think that you are exactly right. I think that this was planned all along, especially considered the photos from the first cases, the ones that held the advertisements with the green lettering. I think that he has been sitting back wondering how long it was going to take us to figure this out. And if that is the case, then my guess is that he feels like he is untouchable. Maybe he has someone on the inside that knows the ins and outs of the case. Someone that can give him a heads up when we get close." Garth nodded. "Possible, if not probable." He agreed.

Sonny and Threadgill, had moved to stand behind Will and Garth listening to their conversation. "So wait a minute." Threadgill said. "You think that there is possibly someone that is feeding him information?"

Will turned and looked at him. "It would make sense." Will said. "These clues seem brazen, this is no coincidence." He finished indicating the pictures pinned to the board. "And also the last photo came to the station by messenger, addressed to Jackson Kiriakis."

Threadgill shook his head. "They could have gotten that from the papers. His name has been associated with this case from the beginning."

"That's true." Will conceded. "But it is a huge coincidence that Sonny played little league sports at this particular sports plex, don't you think?" he asked.

Threadgill was silent for a minute. He looked over at Sonny, and then around the room. "Gentleman, excuse us for a minute." He said escorting Sonny from the room. When they were outside the door. Threadgill pulled it closed. "Do you trust everyone in that room?" He asked quietly.

Sonny thought over who all was in the room for a minute or two…. "Yes." He said. "It rust them, I have been working with them ever since I have been here." Threadgill nodded again. "Do you think Will is right, about him getting information from someone on the inside?" He questioned. "It could be possible, but I don't know where from." Sonny said.

Threadgill nodded and opened the door, motioning for Sonny to precede him back into the room. When the door was closed again, Sonny looked around, Will was still up front talking with Garth and everyone else was sitting, quietly waiting. "Hey," Sonny said, turning to Threadgill. "When we drove by the sports plex Will and I both thought we saw someone there in the dark." He said. "We need to search it ASAP."

Threadgill nodded to a chair. "Have a seat." He said. Sonny sat down, Will came over and took the chair beside him, while Garth made his way to the door. "Thanks for your input." Threadgill told him. "Anytime." Garth said exiting the room.

"As of right now." Threadgill said loudly. "No one gives out any information on this to anyone who is not in the room right now." Threadgill said. "Does everyone understand?"

"What about our superior officers?" Someone asked from the back of the room. "NO ONE THAT IS NOT IN THIS ROOM." Threadgill reiterated.

"What if LT. Williams asks about the case." Someone else called. Threadgill looked up, "If he asks questions about the case, tell him to come and see me." He said. "I will explain to him, the imperativeness of keeping the details quiet. When I say no one I do mean NO ONE, don't talk at home to your spouses, your girl friends, boyfriends, maids, not your mother, not the LT, Not the DA, not even the President of the United States…. DOES EVERYONE UNDERSTAND?" he asked again.

"Yes Sir." Came the unanimous reply from around the room. "Meet here in the morning at 7am for assignments for the day." Everyone stood and filed out of the room, except for Chief Morwessell, and Captain Haskins, along with Will and Sonny. They sat down around a table. "Alright, we need to formulate a plan, You said the building is abandoned, right?" Threadgill said, looking at Sonny for confirmation. Sonny nodded his agreement. "Yeah, as far as we could tell, it has been abandoned for some time. I actually thought they were going to tear that down years ago." He said.

"Good, then you won't need a search warrant." Captain Haskins added. "You should all go out and take a look and see what you find." He instructed.

"Good idea." Threadgill said, moving to stand up. There was a knock on the door and DA Castleberry stuck her head in the door. "In case you have all forgotten, A woman was murdered last night, and a little girl today and I need to have a press conference about that before I can go home tonight. If someone could kindly provide me with the details that I need." She sneered.

Threadgill looked at Chief Morwessell. He nodded his head, "This is your show as far as I am concerned." He said. "Thanks." Threadgill said standing up, going over to her. "All that we have on the little girl is that she was murdered this morning, you can tell the press that we have a whole team of detectives working around the clock to make sure that this bastard is caught." He said. "As far as the murder of Brittany Nicolas, Mark Bennett is currently in custody for her murder and he will be charged with manslaughter. That's all that we have for you right now." He finished. "Fine." She said tightly, turning on her heels and stalking off.

"We better go watch this so we can step in if necessary." Chief Morwessell said, getting up and leading the way from the room. They followed the DA to the media room, where some prominent member of the press had already been assembled. They crowded into the back of the room while the DA took her place behind the podium.

"Thank you all for coming." She said. "I have a statement to make, concerning two of the cases that are currently being worked by detectives. First the case of Ms. Brittany Nicholas, the young woman that was murdered last night on Maple Lane Chicago, The police have Mark Bennett in custody for her murder, and he will be formally charged with manslaughter, as for the case of Madison Givens, the four year old child that was taken from her home late last night, I regret to inform you that the body recovered this morning behind the Atrium shopping mall was the body of this child. At this time, we will not be releasing further details, but rest assured that detectives are working around the clock to make sure that the murdered is apprehended. I will not be taking questions at this time.. Thank you." She said, stepping away from the microphone and quickly walking out of the room. The reporters all filed out of the room one by one.

"You guys ready to head over to the Gym, and take a look?" Threadgill asked. "Okay." Will said. Sonny looked at Will, "You aren't going." He said, willing to risk embarrassing Will and potentially pissing him off. "You promised you would stay here and rest." He said.

Will looked at Sonny. "We are just going to look." Will said. "I can't get hurt looking, can I?" he asked. "I'm going with you."

"No, Will." Sonny said stubbornly. "You need to rest."

"And you need to stop treating me like a child, I am your partner, remember." Will retorted. He was just as stubborn as Sonny.

"Come on boys." Threadgill said, trying not to laugh at them. "We will just go and have a little look. Besides we may need Will there." He said.

Sonny turned and stomped off without another word. Will looked over at Threadgill, bewildered. "Come on kid, he will get over it." He said, clapping Will on the back.

"Meet me in the parking garage in 30 minutes." Threadgill said. "I have to make a couple calls before we go."

Will nodded and went in search of Sonny.


	26. Chapter 26

Will found Sonny in the locker room, he was rustling around in the first aid kit. He had his back to the door, Will could tell he was angry, the rigid stance of his body spoke volumes.

"What are you looking for?" Will asked quietly. Sonny turned and glared at him but did not answer him. Finally he found the bottle of aspirin and shook two out onto his palm. He snapped the first aid box closed and moved over to the refrigerator, where he grabbed a bottle of water and swallowed the two pills.

Will leaned on the door frame. He was unsure how to approach Sonny, he had never been faced with this side of him before. He sighed as he stepped on into the room and closed the door behind him. "Sonny." He said as he walked forward.

Sonny backpedaled until the back of his knees hit the bench that was bolted the floor in front of a row of lockers. "No." he said shaking his head. "Just leave me be." He said gruffly. Will flinched at the icy tone in his voice.

"You can't protect me from everything." Will tried again. He wanted to make Sonny understand his point of view. "Obviously I can't protect you from anything." Sonny snapped back, "Because YOU won't LET me…. even when you are already hurt… you won't listen to reason."

"I love that you are worried about me, that you want to protect me." He said. "It is very sweet, but this is my job… Just like it's yours. I would think that you of all people would understand that I have to do what I can to help." He finished sadly. He didn't want to make things any worse than they already were so he turned and walked out of the room without saying any more. He closed the door softly behind him.

Will walked down the hall and pressed the call button for the elevator. He looked behind him to see if there was any sign of Sonny, but there wasn't. When the elevator opened he stepped on alone and closed his eyes. Part of him wanted to race back to Sonny and tell him that he would do anything he wanted, just to make him happy again, but the more sensible part of him knew that if he gave in this time, that there would be a next time, and a next time. He knew that Sonny would always try to keep him from dangerous situations, if he gave him that power. And while he loved that Sonny cared enough for him to want to do that, wasn't that the whole reason he had moved away from his family? Unfortunately there was not a lot of room for compromise in this situation. Besides it wasn't like there was really going to be any danger tonight. They were really just going to check out a hunch, this was basically a scouting mission.

The elevator doors opened, and Will stepped out almost bumping into Jensen and Williams. "What's the matter kid?" Jensen asked, "You look like your puppy just died."

"Nothing." Will said, "Just waiting for Threadgill and Sonny, we are going to check out that gym at the sports plex Sonny remembered."

"Cool, we can come and help." Williams said. "Let me just go and grab something from my locker." He said as he ran to the stair well and disappeared behind the door.

"What's really going on?" Jensen asked, giving Will his best No nonsense look.

"Sonny's mad at me because I won't stay behind and let them go alone." Will said dejectedly. "Ah." Jensen said. "That makes sense…. He wants you here, where there is no danger, right?"

"I guess so." Will said. "I refused to stay behind and he took off, he won't even talk to me. I swear he is acting like a spoiled toddler that didn't get his way." Jensen chuckled, and clapped Will on the shoulder. "You two have a lot to learn about each other yet." He said.

"This isn't funny to me." Will said glaring at the older man. "No you're right, it isn't funny." Jensen said, "But try not to be too hard on Sonny. I have known Sonny since his first day on the force, and I have never seen him the way he is with you. He loves you." He continued. "And it is going to take him some time to learn to balance his feelings between wanting you safe and wanting you happy. Then factor in your recent brush with violence and I am sure that has his protective side in overdrive right now."

"I know." Will said. "I just don't know how to make things work when he isn't even talking to me. Maybe it would have been best if we had never gotten together." Threadgill walked up, "Now Now, none of that talk. Everybody that has eyes can see that you two love each other… He will get over it, and things will be fine again soon enough." He said. "Now come on you ride with me and let Jensen here try to talk some sense into him."

Will followed Threadgill over to his car. "Thanks A whole hell of a lot." Jensen called after them. Will waved at him and Threadgill chuckled. "You can handle it, I have faith in you." He called over his shoulder.

Sonny came out of the elevator just as Threadgill pulled out into the traffic. "What's his hurry?" Sonny asked. Jensen just shrugged his shoulders. He was too busy working out in his mind what Sonny needed to hear to figure out for himself that he was wrong.

"Where's Williams?" Jensen asked. Sonny jerked his thumb over his shoulder, "He had to make a pit stop in the bathroom, he is right behind me." Jensen just nodded. "Are you riding with us, or did you want to drive?"

"No, I'll drive" Sonny said, walking over to the car that he and Will had used earlier. His patrol car had long since been assigned to someone else, Thank God. He and Jensen got into the car, and finally Williams came out of the elevator and jumped into the back seat. Sonny wasted no time pulling out of the garage and speeding across town.

Williams was oblivious. "Where is your boy toy?" He asked. Sonny shrugged his shoulders and Jensen shot him a nasty look but Williams continued on. "What? I can't believe you don't know where he is, you two have been practically joined at the hip since that night at Kelly's. I am surprised that you let his cute little ass out of your sight, especially since he almost got his self shot."

Sonny glared at Williams in the rearview mirror. "I am not Will's keeper." He bit out.

"Oh, okay, my bad." He said. "Relax." He sat back in the seat and pulled out his phone. He looked at the phone for a few minutes and then scooted forward on the seat again. "Hey Man, if you guys have broken up or something, would it be okay with you if I gave Jeremy Will's number? He has asked me for it a few times.

Jensen sat in the passenger seat and held his breath. Williams was a good detective, but he wasn't sure how. He was severely lacking in the common sense department, or maybe he was really that much of an asshole. He didn't really know the man that well. Sonny's jaw was clenched shut and his fingers gripped the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles were white.

"Will is riding with Threadgill over to the gym so that they can discuss the pictures, that's all." Jensen said, trying to defuse the situation. Jensen looked over at Sonny, he looked as if he was ready to rip someone's head off.

"Oh, sorry." Williams said, finally getting the hint. He sat back and the rest of the car ride was spent in tense silence.

When they pulled onto the side street the sports plex was on, Sonny pulled his car up alongside Threadgill's and rolled down Jensen's window. "I think that we should leave the cars here and go on foot, in case there is someone in there." Sonny nodded. "I agree, also there may be some tire marks that we can match to one of Bennett's cars."

"Good thinking." Threadgill said. "Let's go." Sonny pulled his car forward and parked in front of the other one.

They piled out of the cars and checked their weapons. Then they walked quietly toward the sports plex. When they got near the front of the door they saw the tail end of a dark colored vehicle sticking out from the side of the building. They all pulled their weapons as they made their way to the door. The door was ajar but there was a heavy chain around the handles, securing it closed with a pad lock.

"Do we have anything to cut that with?" Williams asked. Threadgill nodded, "There are bolt cutters in the back of my car, one of you go and get them." Jensen held his hand out for the keys, "I'll go." He said. He took the keys that Threadgill handed him and hurried back to the cars.

"Sonny, whose car does that look like to you?" Threadgill asked. Sonny scowled at him, but answered anyway. "It looks like Bennett's to me, the one that the chief was trying to have brought in to be searched." Threadgill nodded, "Yes that is the same thing that I was thinking." He said. He made a move toward the car, but then stopped when Jensen hustled back up to them. "Here." he said passing them to Williams. "Let's see if your arm muscles are as big as the ones in that damn mouth of yours." He said.

"Haha, you are such a comedian." Williams said, taking the bolt cutters and cutting the lock. They pulled the chains loose and laid them to the side. Williams and Jensen opened the doors and Threadgill, Sonny, and Will walked in.

"Here." Threadgill said, passing out pairs of gloves. Once they all had gloves on, he said "Okay let's split up and look around." He said. Remember to touch as little as possible. They all went separate directions. Threadgill went into the office that was closest to the door. Obviously it was the office that was intended to be used by the coach. There were pictures of little league teams spanning several years time lining the wall. The desk was pretty small and there was nothing on it, other than an old coffee cup holding a few pencils. He pulled the drawers open one by one and found nothing of interest. The search of the file cabinet yielded more of the same. The only thing in the room that looked as if it had been used in recent years was the small couch and the dingy blanket that was draped over the back. He made a mental note to have the evidence team take a look at it when they called them in.

Williams had taken then girls locker room. Most of the lockers were standing open, empty. There were a few pictures adorning the walls and a large shadow box containing a uniform. He snapped a picture of it with his phone to show it to Sonny and Threadgill.

Sonny had taken the equipment room, he found all of what you may expect to find in an equipment room in a gym. There were several baseball bats, a bucket containing an assortment of baseballs and softballs. There were several footballs and basketballs in another large bin pushed against the wall. There were even tennis rackets and tennis balls shoved in a corner. He turned out the light and pulled the door closed. He was looking at the pictures lining the wall of the hallway. He stopped when he found one that actually had him in it. He pulled it from the wall and had it in his hand when Jensen came up beside him. "Find something?" he asked.

"Just a memory." Sonny said. He pointed to the scrawniest kid in the picture, "That's me." He said. "Are you serious?" Jensen said looking closer. "Man, you have changed a lot. " Sonny nodded. "I know." He agreed, as they looked at the picture. Sonny was lost in the memory of the day that the picture was taken. They had just finished playing a championship game… and they had actually won. It was his last year on the team, the next summer was when his mom had told him that they were taking a several week long vacation cruise over the summer and that there wouldn't be any reason for him to come home. He never let on to her how much that had hurt him…

"Over Here!" Will called loudly… Sonny jumped, dropping the picture. He rushed toward the sound of Will's voice. Jensen was hot on his heels. They all met up in the back hallway. There was a large wood door that was labeled 'Maintenance'. The door was wide open and Will was standing in front of it. "What's wrong?" Sonny asked immediately, forgetting for a minute that he was angry with him. "Look." He whispered. Threadgill came up behind them. He moved to the front with Sonny. They looked in the room. One of the walls was lined with shelves that held gallons and gallons of chemicals like the ones that Will and Sonny has seen at the camera store. The back wall had a long table pushed against it, it held several shallow pans that looked like they were used to hold the chemicals for photo developing. The other wall held an extra large bulletin board that was filled with picture after picture, some of them exact copies of the pictures that they had each committed to memory over the last six months. There was a picture of each and every single little girl that had been abducted for the last 9 months.

"Look" Sonny pointed to the pictures at the top of the board. "I knew he had something to do with those earlier ones too." He said.

"We have to call and get forensics down here as soon as possible." Threadgill said, taking out his phone and making the call. Once he gave directions and the address he disconnected the call. "Let's keep looking, there may be something else." He said. They all broke away and went in different directions again. There were not many rooms left, since Jensen had taken the boys locker room and found it much the same as the girls locker room.

Sonny checked out the bathrooms and then they met back up on the gym floor. Will walked over to the middle of the floor and looked at the team logo on the floor. It was large, curly lettering. He pulled a photo that he had brought from the station out of his pocket and looked at it closely. It was pretty clear to him that this was the lettering they were seeing in all of the photos. He closed his eyes, a lot of terrible things happened to a lot of innocent little girls in this very place. "Kirikais" Threadgill called loudly. It echoed off of the walls and reverberated around the room a couple of times. All of the sudden what Allessandra had told Sonny and himself in that interview made perfect sense. She had said that he had said if she didn't stop screaming then he would hurt her real bad… and that she heard it three times, even after he stopped screaming at her, it had to have been the echo in the empty room.

Sonny came into the room. "Yeah?" He asked, looking at Threadgill. "Is part of this faded or did it always look like this?" he asked pointing to the letters on the floor. "It always looked that way, it's kind of weird but they actually held an art contest for the kids in the neighborhood, I remember it being for older kids, maybe something like 9 to 15 years old. Anyway the contest was to design the logo for the team, and this was the winner, he said motioning to the logo.

Threadgill nodded. "Interesting." He said. "Can you gather some of the pictures from the walls for me. We may need them for evidence. It's a long shot but I think that some of the kids he is targeting, are children of the people who played little league here." Sonny nodded. "Yeah Okay." He said, then turned and went toward the hall way, picking out pictures from different years. Jensen went in search of Williams.

Agent Threadgill was standing there in the foyer, looking at his watch. He really wanted to check out that car. He needed to see if it had a tag or a VIN number still on it. He was sure that was the vehicle that was used to transport the victims around. That would just about be all the evidence that they needed to send Bennett to jail for the rest of his life. "Horton." He said. "I will be right back, I am going to step out here and look at this car for a minute." He said.

"Hold up, I am going with you." Will said. He moved to the foyer with Threadgill. They walked toward the door. Threadgill stopped and looked out. He didn't see anything that looked out of place but the hair on the back of his neck was standing on end. He pushed Will to the other side of the door and started to push it open. The strong smell of gasoline stopped him. He jerked the door closed.

"Get Down." He shouted at Will. Will followed his instruction and dropped to his knees. He covered his head, not knowing what to expect. Suddenly there was an explosion, that rocked the building, even the walls seemed to shake.

"WILL!" Sonny screamed tearing through the room, "Will." He called again when he didn't get an answer. He ran into the foyer, nearly passing out from relief when he saw Will huddled down beside the door. And then the relief gave way to rage. A feeling he did not even have time to process before the chaos broke out.

Threadgill raced out the door, Jensen and Williams on his tail. "Sonny, call for the fire department." Jensen called over his shoulder. Sonny dialed 911, gave them his badge number and asked for a fire truck at their location as soon as possible.

Will slowly got to his feet. Sonny stood there feeling numb. He watched as Will hobbled across the room and sat down on a set of bleachers. Sonny clamped his jaw together and walked out the door to see what was going on. Threadgill was on the phone asking for dispatch to send any officer in the area to watch out for Bennett, then he called the chief and asked him to put out an APB for Christopher Bennett, quickly filling him in on their findings and the explosion.

"What was that explosion?" Sonny asked, as soon as he hung up the phone. "The bastard threw gas all over the car and put a rag into the gas tank and set it on fire, so it was the car exploded. My guess is that the car had DNA evidence in it and he knew he had to destroy it." Threadgill said. "Big chance he took though." Sonny said. Threadgill nodded his agreement.

The firetruck pulled in, the firemen piling off of it, rushing in all directions. They got to work on getting the fire under control, dousing everything completely with tons of water. Just as they were finishing up, the crime scene unit arrived. Sonny and Threadgill answered questions and watched over them, making sure they took everything that could be considered evidence. Williams called the tow truck to take the car into the impound yard so that it could be thoroughly searched, though it would probably yield little evidence after the explosion followed by the ocean of water the fire department had dumped on it.

When the tow truck got there, Threadgill addressed Williams. "Go with them, I want to make sure that if there is one shred of useable evidence in that car that it is preserved." He said. "Yes Sir." Williams said, following the tow truck driver to the cab.

It was several hours before the crime scene unit was done and packed up. Thredgill rolled his neck back and forth to release some of the tension in his shoulders. "Sir." One of the techs said. "We are done here, we are going to take everything back to the lab for analysis." He said. Threadgill nodded. "Thanks."

Threadgill made one final call and asked for two officers to be sent over to guard the crime scene until they could make sure they had all that they needed. Then he went in search of Sonny.

He found him in the lobby, talking with one of techs from the crime scene unit. He was handing over the pictures that he had been collecting when the explosion happened. When the tech walked out the door, Threadgill walked up to Sonny. "You about ready to go home?" he asked. "Yeah I just have to find Will, I haven't seen him lately."

"Oh I had a uniformed officer take him home hours ago." Threadgill said. "He looked like he was beat."

"Oh, well Thanks" Sonny said. "I will see him tomorrow I guess." He said.

"Sonny… cut the kid some slack." Threadgill said. "He loves you, you know."

Sonny nodded and walked out the door.


	27. Chapter 27

Sonny felt the exhaustion settling in on him as he trudged toward the car where he had parked it hours ago. There was so much that still needed to be done, but Threadgill had practically forbade him to go anywhere near the station for at least eight hours. He said they all needed a good night of sleep. Which was true but Sonny doubted he would see any sleep. He was wrestling with all the feelings that were flying around in his mind. He wanted to go by and see Will, but he was afraid to do that because he also wanted to strangle him. It was probably best that he let that lie for tonight. Besides, Will was probably asleep by now anyway.

He didn't see Jensen leaning against the back fender of the car till he was almost on top of him. "Hey." He said. "You mind dropping me by home?" Jensen asked. Sonny shook his head, "Not at all." He said. "Let's go." They got in and Sonny started off down the road. The first few minutes were spent in awkward silence, before Jensen decided to ask about Will.

"So how's Will doing after everything last night?" he asked. Sonny shrugged. "Okay, I guess, I don't really know." He said. "Why do you ask?" he asked, glancing over at his old partner.

"No reason, you two just seem to have hit a spped bump, that's all." Jensen replied. "Yeah, you could say that." Sonny agreed. "He is just so damn stubborn." Jensen snickered. "And you're not?" he asked.

"No, I'm not, not about important things." Sonny insisted. "He could have been killed last night… and then he was in pain today and he still refused to stay at the station and rest like I asked." Sonny said. "I don't think that asking him to stay there and rest was all that unreasonable. But would he do that for me? No, of course he wouldn't, he had to go even though he could barely walk straight, and then he was almost in that damn explosion." He finished. Jensen could tell that he was getting worked up.

"Sonny, you do realize that Will is a cop… the same as you, the same as me… no more and no less. That means that he could possibly be putting himself in dangerous situations on a daily basis." He pressed gently.

"But he doesn't have to… especially when he is already hurt. He could have waited at the station and been just as much help when we brought the evidence back. Sonny said.

"I guess…" Jensen said. "Hey you never told me why Will didn't go back home after the academy." He said, "I heard Threadgill telling someone that Will's grandfather is some big shot in the department in Will's home town."

"Yeah, he is the police commissioner, I think." Sonny said. Jensen nodded, "I thought it was something like that, so why not go home and get a job, with connections like that I bet he could have had any position he wanted."

"Because his family was trying to force him into being an analyst or something, and that wasn't what Will wanted." Sonny said. "He said he wasn't made to sit in an office all day." He answered automatically.

"Sort of like what you asked him to do tonight?" Jensen asked.

"What?" Sonny sputtered, "No, that's ridiculous."

"Not all that ridiculous." Jensen said. "You just said that Will didn't have to put himself in dangerous situations, he could have stayed at the station and rested and waited for us to bring the evidence back to him…." He went on. "I hate to break it to you Sonny, but that sounds like the life of an analyst."

"Okay Fine." Sonny snapped. "That is what I said, but this is different. Will was just injured, he needs rest." He insisted.

"That may be true." Jensen said, "In fact I would agree with you myself, but you are going to have to learn to trust Will to know his own limits. The last thing you want to make him feel is inferior to any of the rest of us."

"DAMN IT." Sonny said, "That's exactly what I am doing isn't it? He asked, hanging his head down.

Jensen sighed. "Yep, I think it is." He agreed. "But I wouldn't sweat it too much, Will loves you, I think he will forgive a few mistakes." He said.

"Thanks." Sonny said, as he pulled into Jensen's yard. "See you in a few hours." He said as the other man got out. Suddenly he was anxious to get to Will.

With his mind made up, Sonny drove straight to Will's apartment building. When he got there he climbed out of the car and hurried up to Wills' door. When he was standing outside the door, he took a deep breath. He pounded on the door loudly. Then he listened quietly to see if there was any movement in the apartment. It was all quiet so he banged on the door again. There was still no answer from Will's door, but the door next to his flew open and a stern looking middle aged woman stepped out into the hallway.

"What the hell is wrong with you buddy?" She asked, "Don't you know that it's 2 AM, and some of us have kids that are trying to sleep." She scolded.

Sonny looked down at his watch, he was surprised to see that she was right, It was actually a few minutes after Two. Will was probably knocked out by now. The apology speech that he wanted to give him, was going to have to wait till morning.

"I am very sorry Ma'am" Sonny said sincerely.

"Whatever… now scram before I call the cops." The stern looking woman growled at him. Sonny chuckled as he hurried down the stairs. Boy that would be another thing that he would never live down if it got out.

He got back into his car and drove the short distance to his own home. Once he had parked the car in the driveway he decided that he would just shoot Will a text since he couldn't talk to him. He stuck his hand in his pocket, but his phone wasn't there. Then he remembered that he left it in his locker back at the station, before he headed out to the sports plex.

"Great move, Kiriakis." He muttered to himself, as he climbed out of the car and shuffled over to the porch. He climbed the couple of steps up to the door and opened his door. He immediately froze. The living room lights were on, they were dimmed down to the lowest setting, but they were on and Sonny distinctly remembered turning them off this morning on the way out the door.

He pulled his 9MM pistol from his shoulder holster and chambered a round. He wasn't sure what he was expecting to find. He only knew that the only other person with a key to his place was the man he had just dropped off at home.

He looked carefully around the kitchen and nothing looked out of place. He continued into the edge of the living room, nothing looked amiss there either except the lights and the fan being on. He needed to get to the back of the house, to check and see if anyone was back there. He edged around the end table and was almost to the middle of the room when he heard a soft sigh. He turned to the couch, and that's when he saw him.

Will was curled up in the fetal position on the couch. Sonny let out the breath that he didn't realize he had been holding and put the gun down on the coffee table. He shrugged out of the shoulder holster and put it on the table as well. He sat down on the edge of the couch and rubbed his hand up and down Will's arm. "Will, wake up babe." He said softly.

Will's eyes fluttered open. "Sonny." He whispered. "You're home." Sonny nodded and smiled. "I'm home, come on let's go in the bedroom so you can stretch out." He said.

Will was a little groggy, he had taken some medication for the pain, but it was only a prescription dose of Ibuprofen. He didn't want to take the narcotics that the hospital had prescribed for him, they made him feel loopy and disconnected. He sat up a little and smiled at Sonny. "I'm sorry I was trying to wait up for you." He said.

Sonny shook his head. "No it's okay, you need to rest, Threadgill said that he asked a uniformed officer to take you home because you were beat." He said.

"I think it just took a lot out of me when I moved so quickly when he hollered at me to get down, you know just before that explosion." He said. "I don't think that I should have moved that fast, it stirred up the pain in my chest again."

"Well, I am glad that you realized that you need to rest." Sonny said. "But why are you here?" he asked. "How are you here?"

Will blushed. "I'm sorry, I probably should have asked you, but I did text you and tell you that I was here. I just didn't want to be apart from you, especially when you are mad at me." He rushed out. "Jensen loaned me his key."

"Yeah about that." He started, "Will, I…"

"No." Will interrupted him. "You were right, I was being stubborn, but…."

"Would you please shush and let me apologize." Sonny said. "I am so sorry, I realize now that I was trying to do the same thing to you that your family was doing."

Will nodded, "Yeah but you weren't doing it to control my life, you were doing it because you love me. I know that." Will said.

"I am so grateful that you realize that." Sonny said. "But that doesn't make it right, and I hope you can forgive me."

"Let's not talk about it anymore." Will said, putting his fingers on Sonny's lips.

"Well then what should we talk about?" Sonny teased.

"Who said we need to talk at all?" Will asked pulling Sonny's head down to meet his. He covered Sonny's lips, brushing his tongue across them. Sonny eased off the couch backing away from Will's kiss. He took Will's hands in his and pulled him up beside him. His hand went to Will's elbow, to steady him when he waivered on his feet.

"Come on." Sonny said. "Let's go to bed."

Will allowed himself to be led from the room. Sonny guided him to the edge of the bed, and stopped in front of him. He was so glad that Sonny hadn't kicked him out tonight. He knew that Sonny had been really mad earlier today, but he didn't think that he could stand not being with him.

Sonny pulled Will's shirt from the waistband of his pants. Will raised his hands slowly allowing Sonny to tug the shirt over his head. He pulled the shirt off and dropped it onto the floor. Will's chest was revealed to him.

He drew in a sharp breath and reached out to lightly touch the bruises that covered his chest. They were an angry purplish blue color. He couldn't understand how Will was even standing up. Realistically he had known that the bruises were going to be darker, deeper in color, that they were going to get worse before they got better but he was not prepared for exactly how bad they were going to look.

"Jesus Will." He breathed. "How are you even breathing?" he asked softly. Will shrugged a little and leaned forward to kiss him. Sonny pushed him back. There was no way he was going to start something with Will that he would be terrified to finish. Will was in no shape for that kind of physical activity. Instead he leaned down and pressed his lips against one of the particularly bad bruises. And those damned dreaded tears came again, splashing against his skin like rain drops.

Tears coursed down his face as he forced himself to take a step back from Will, he reached down and unbuttoned and unzipped Will's pants. He gave them a gentle push and they pooled at Will's feet, reminding Sonny that he had loaned Will those pants just that morning, even if seemed a lifetime ago. Will stepped out of the pants and kicked them to the side.

He pressed Will backwards, urging him to sit down on the bed. Will sat down and pulled Sonny down beside him. He turned sideways and laid his hand on Sonny's cheek, his thumb brushed along his jawbone. "Hey… hey" he said garnering Sonny's attention. "What is this?" he asked, moving his thumbs up and wiping his tears away. "It doesn't hurt that bad, as long as I don't move fast or breathe too deep."

Sonny looked in his eyes. "I could have lost you, Will." He said brokenly. "Do you understand that I could have lost you, and I have only just found you. You could have died twice in as many days." He whispered, starting to shake.

"But you didn't." Will said, pulling Sonny close holding him tightly. "I am right here, and I am not going anywhere. I promise." He said.

"You can't do that, Will." Sonny wailed. "You can't promise me that you aren't going to leave me, that you aren't going to die. It could happen anytime, anywhere. We could be responding to a noise complaint, and you could get shot."

"That's very true." Will said. Rocking him back and forth, shushing him quietly. "But I could also quit the force and become an accountant. I could be killed in a car wreck on my way home to you. I could be at the bank making a deposit and somehow end up in the middle of a bank robbery and be shot. No one is promised tomorrow Sonny, but I can promise you this, each and every tomorrow that I do have, belongs to you." He finished. He held him close and waited for him to get his emotions under control.

Sonny pulled away from Will and wiped his forearm over his eyes. He was embarrassed and ashamed; he was supposed to be taking care of Will, not the other way around. He stood up and went to the bathroom; he brushed his teeth quickly and washed his face before going back out to face Will.

Will was still sitting in the same place. When Sonny came out, Will got up and went into the bathroom he closed the door behind him. He had already been thinking that Sonny didn't need to know exactly how much pain he was in. He was determined to be strong, to show Sonny that he was going to be fine. But the truth was that as the day had went along his chest had gotten more and more sore. Breathing had become increasingly difficult, and his only saving grace was that he had learned to adapt his breathing to curb the pain. He just took shallow breaths through his nose. He knew that the doctor had said that moving would help to work the stiffness and pain out, so he had been dutifully pushing through, and then the explosion had happened and that quick drop to the floor. The time he had spent crunching in on himself covering his head had made him see stars. But there was no way he was going to let Sonny know any of that.

He brushed his teeth, and walked back out into the bedroom. Sonny was already undressed and under the covers waiting for him.

When Will approached the bed Sonny threw the covers back for him to get in. Will crawled into the bed and cuddled up to Sonny. He wrapped his arm around him and trailed his fingers up and down his back. "I love you Sonny." He said kissing him lightly on the mouth.

"I love you too babe." Sonny said. He was thankful that Will was here and did love him, regardless of the way he had acted tonight. He held Will against him until his body relaxed in sleep.

Sonny couldn't sleep, so he closed his eyes and listed to the soft lilt of Will's breathing. He knew that he was being unreasonable, but the thought of losing Will scared the hell out of him. He was going to have to work on getting that irrational fear under control. He had been a police officer for long enough to know that there were risks involved, sometimes a lot of them, but he wouldn't trade it for anything, and he could see that same sense of pride in Will. Being a police officer was something that Will loved, and he couldn't take that away from him. He thought of how proud he was of Will, as he finally drifted into a fitful sleep.

Sonny groaned loudly when he heard the distant ringing of a telephone. He pulled his pillow over his head to drown out the sound. These long sleepless nights and too short cat naps were beginning to get to him. When this case was over he promised himself that he was going to sleep for a solid week.

He huffed and shoved the pillow off of his head and sat up. He could hear the soft sound of Will's voice drifting through the open door. "Yes, I know what time it is… We will be there as soon as we can get there." He said firmly. Sonny looked over at the clock, it read 8:47am. He couldn't remember a time that he had come dragging into the office past Nine AM.

He jumped up and hurried into the bathroom, he pulled the lever to turn the water on and squeezed some tooth paste onto his tooth brush. He shoved it into his mouth and stepped under the lukewarm spray of the shower. A mere two minutes later he stepped out and toweled himself dry. He dropped his toothbrush into the holder on the sink. He dropped the towel into the hamper and quickly selected some clothes, he threw them on.

When he stepped into the living room, he was stopped short. Will was dressed in a pair of dark grey slacks and a white button down from Sonny's closet. His clothes were big and baggy on Will, but to Sonny there was nothing sexier than Will wearing his clothes, something extremely sexy about Will having the confidence to go into his closet and pick out clothes to put on, as if this was where he belonged.

"Morning." He said grinning. "Sorry I made us late, you should have woken me up."

"You needed to rest, which was exactly what I told Williams when he called looking for us." Will said. "Here's you some coffee." He said, handing Sonny a travel mug filled with the steaming liquid. Sonny took the mug, embarrassed to find that Will was once again taking care of him, when it should be the other way around. "Ready to go?" Will asked.

Sonny nodded, "Yeah, we better hurry." He said grabbing the keys. They walked out and got into the car. "So what's first today?" Will asked. Sonny thought for a minute. "First I need to go in the station and get my phone, and then we can probably conduct that interview with Mark Bennett and get that over with, find out what he knows." He said.

"Okay." Will said, "By the way Threadgill called me early this morning and said that the crime scene techs are already going over all of the evidence that they brought in and that the car is pretty much a lost cause, any evidence that we could have gained from that was pretty much incinerated."

"I figured that was going to happen." Sonny said. "I just can't believe that bastard came back while we were there."

"Me either." Will agreed as they pulled into the parking garage at the station. They got out and took the elevator up to the floor. Captain Haskins was in the hall when they exited the elevator. "Horton… Kiriakis…. Nice of you two gentlemen to join us today." He said gruffly. "Threadgill is on pins and needles waiting for you two."

"Yes Sir." They said in unison. Captain Haskins nodded and headed on into his office. "You go on Will, I am just going to grab my phone and I will catch up." He said as he walked into the locker room.

He went to his locker and pulled it open. He grabbed his phone, 19 missed calls and 26 text messages; the display seemed to scream at him. It was also beeping low battery. Well it was no wonder with all the notifications he had. He scrolled through the missed calls, his mom, his mom, his mom again. Apparently the news about the explosion had already been on the news. He promised himself that he would call her later on and kept scrolling. There were a couple of calls from his father, one from his brother and a couple from the precinct. Then there were three from late last night, they were from a 703 area code that he did not recognize. He noticed that he had four voice mails. He dialed the voice mail number and listened carefully.

"Sonny, it's mom, call me when you get this." He pressed the option to delete the message and then listened to the next one. "Sonny, this is your mother, I need to hear from you." He pressed delete again. "Jackson Kiriakis, this is your mother and you need to call me immediately." Sonny could help rolling his eyes, before he pressed delete. He would have to deal with her later on. The last message began to play. "Detective Kiriakis, this is Julian Bennett, Mark Bennett's grandfather. You asked me to call you if I remembered anything else about Natasha Whitefield. I think I have some new information for you if you could give me a call. My personal number is 703 867 4962."

Sonny saved the voicemail and quickly dialed Julian's number. He answered the phone on the first ring. "Julian Bennett." He said. "Mr. Bennett this is Detective Kiriakis, I was returning your call about Natasha Whitfield."

"Yes." Julian said. "Normally I don't watch news from other states, but since you and your partner came to see me about Mark, I have made it my mission to watch the news from your city. Yesterday I saw the press conference that the District Attorney gave about Mark and the young lady that you claim that he killed and the little girl that was murdered. Such a sad thing, it is terrible what happened to that child."

"Yes Sir." Sonny agreed wishing the other man would just get to the point.

"What I didn't understand though is why that young lady said her name is Castleberry. That is Natasha Whitefield. She looked just like I remember her looking." He finished.

Sonny was shocked, he couldn't bring himself to say a word. "Are you still there detective?" Julian asked him.

Sonny cleared his throat. "Yes, I am sorry, are you sure about what you are telling me?"

"I would bet my own life on it." Julian said. "I was shocked to see her myself."

"Alright." Sonny said. "I will be back in touch with you, I have to try and figure this out." He said as he disconnected the call. His mind was spinning. If it was true then why in the world would she take a high profile job, like becoming a District Attorney? It just didn't make any sense. But he also couldn't help but think that it would make sense for it to be true, she would be the leak in the department, the one that was helping he stay one step ahead of the investigation.

He needed to get down there and talk to Threadgill as soon as possible.

He hurried to the conference room and was relieved to find it empty except for Will and Threadgill. He closed the door and went over to where they were sitting. They appeared to be going over a report. "What's that?" he asked.

"Coroner's report." Threadgill said. "We got him, that lowlife bastard finally made a mistake." He said "What do you mean?" Sonny asked. "We got extremely lucky, Dupree found a DNA sample on the Givens girl." He said.

"Are you serious?" Sonny said. Threadgill nodded. "Yes, and it is enough to pull Bennett in here and get a warrant for a sample to match to the one we have."

"Great!" Sonny said. "In the meantime, I have got something that is going to rock your socks."

Threadgill and Will looked at him expectantly. Sonny hurriedly filled them in on his call with Bennett.

"Hmmm" Threadgill said, "Let's go see the chief, I think he may be interested in hearing this."


	28. Chapter 28

"That's all we know as of now." Threadgill said after spending nearly forty minutes going over the evidence that was collected from the sports plex. He had spent several minutes explaining in detail about the explosion. Captain Haskins and Chief Morwessell listened attentively until he was finished. "Well, I will put a call in to the lab and see if I can rush them up on the analysis." The Chief said. "That would be great!" Threadgill agreed, meanwhile, Kiriakis here has an interesting twist that he would like to share with you."

They turned expectantly to Sonny, "Go ahead son, let's hear it." Captain Haskins said. "Well, you all remember the lead that we had a couple of weeks ago, the one that involved the young lady that had  
opened a joint checking account with Christopher Bennett." Sonny said." Morwessell and Haskins nodded in agreement. "The one that is now protected by the CCC?" Haskins asked. "Yes, that's the one, her name is Natasha Whitfield." Sonny said. "Or rather it was. When I went down to talk to Julian Bennett, the grandfather of Christopher and Mark, on a hunch I asked him if he remembered her. He actually did remember that Christopher was once involved with her. Apparently Miss Whitfield made quite an impression on Julian, he thought that if anyone could help his grandson turn his life around it would be her." Sonny continued. "Anyway out of the blue yesterday Julian Bennett called me, I didn't have my phone at the time and I just got it from my locker this morning, so I returned his call and he identified her for me."

"Well who is it?" Morwessell asked. "And how could he be sure, since I am guessing he hasn't seen this woman in several years?"

"He identified District Attorney Jennifer Castleberry, as Natasha Whitfield." Sonny said, "He seemed pretty sure when I questioned him. Like I said, he was thinking that she could get Christopher on the  
straight and narrow."

"I see." Haskins said. "It certainly warrants a conversation with her. Let's get her down here." He said picking up the phone on his desk. He made the call and asked to speak to her immediately. They all sat  
quietly, while he waited on the line. "Well then, please ask her to report to my office as soon as she is back." He said to the person on the other end of the line. Once he had dropped the handset back into the cradle, he looked at Threadgill, "It appears she is in court, at the moment, I guess we will have to wait for her finish up."

"While she is in court I need to run down and have a quick conversation with Mark Bennett." Sonny said. "Will, are you coming with me?" He asked. Will nodded and stood up. "Will you call us if she gets back before we do." He asked. "Of Course." Captain Haskins said as they exited the room.

They rode the elevator up to prisoner holding up on the fifth floor. Sonny walked over to the desk. "We need to see Mark Bennett." He said to the officer behind the desk. He picked up the book and signed them both in on the visitor log. The officer clicked a few buttons on his computer and picked up his phone. He called down and asked them to bring Bennett up as soon as possible. "You can wait in interrogation room two." The officer said pointing over his shoulder. "But, I am going to have to ask you to check your weapons here with me." He said. Sonny nodded and handed over his weapon, then waited for Will to do the same. The officer took the weapons and locked them in a drawer to his left. "He should be right up." Sonny muttered his thanks and led Will over to room two. They sat down in the two chairs on one side of the table.

About five minutes later the door opened and two officers escorted Mark Bennett into the room. They removed the wrist cuffs, but secured his ankle cuffs to the large hook bolted to the floor. "We will be  
right outside the door." The younger officer said as they walked out of the door.

"Mark." Sonny said, "I am Detective Kiriakis and this is Detective Horton." Mark Bennett looked at Sonny already shaking his head, then he looked over at Will and narrowed his eyes. "I ain't talking without no lawyer." He said. Sonny nodded. "That is certainly within your rights." He said. "But we aren't really here to talk to you about your case right now."

Mark looked confused, "Why not?" he asked. Will cleared his throat, "Unfortunately for you there isn't much that needs to be said about your case." he said, "It's pretty open and shut, I mean you shot and killed a woman in cold blood in the presence of two detectives." He turned his hardened gaze on Will, "What do you want with me then?" he sneered.

"Well…" Sonny said, "If you help us, we may be able to help you." He answered.

"Help you what?" Mark asked warily. "We need to know about your brother Christopher." Sonny answered him. "Chris is in trouble again?" Mark asked, "Surprise, surprise. What did he do now?"

"He is in a lot of trouble this time." Will said. "We think that he may have kidnapped some young girls, maybe he even murdered one of them."

Mark Bennett shrugged, "I always knew he would end up in prison, just never figured I would." Sonny nodded. "Why did you always think he was going to go to prison?" he questioned him.

"He has always had a preference for young girls; he used to talk about doing some awful things to our sister." He said.

"You mean things like what you both did to Catherine to land you in juvenile detention?" Sonny asked, looking him in the eye. Mark looked suspiciously at Sonny, "How do you know about that?" he asked. "We talked to your grandfather, Julian, he told us about Catherine, and about what happened to her." Sonny answered. A cold look of horror filled his eyes. "You didn't tell him about this?" he said, motioning to the bright orange jumpsuit he was currently wearing.

"He knows." Sonny said. "I assumed he sent you a lawyer." Bennett shrugged. "Someone did, I thought it was my father. He was the only one I called."

"I see." Sonny said. "So you were saying that Christopher talked about doing horrible things to your sister. What type of things are you talking about?" Sonny asked.

"He used to talk about having sex with her and about making her do things to him… I told him he was sick, I begged him to leave her alone. She was just a child, a baby really, but he didn't care." Mark said. "He never got the chance to do very many things to her, mostly because we were never left alone with her, until that one day. He was going to do something much worse to her… but I convinced him that we should hurt her, do something to put her in the hospital so that we would have time to ourselves and then he could whatever he wanted to anyone else? It was hard to convince him, but finally he relented, when he remembered that the family down the street had a young daughter. I prayed that the cops would get to us before he had a chance to do anything to the neighbor's child. Look, I know it was a stupid plan but it was all I could think of at the time." He said shoving his hands through his hair. He lowered his head down to the table.

"That's why you got out of juvenile so soon and they left Christopher there, isn't it?" Sonny asked. Mark Bennett nodded his head yes. "I didn't want them to think I was a monster, especially not my grandfather, I told him everything, the whole story."

"What happened the night you killed Ms. Nicholas?" Will asked. Bennett looked suspiciously at him again. "I thought we weren't going to talk about that." He said. "You went to see Christopher that night and then you left and went directly to meet her and you tried to take that child from her mother. What does that have to do with Christopher?" Will asked.

"He called me and told me that he had hooked up with a girl that I used to date and that she had a little girl. He showed me a picture of her, he said that he was going to get her and he was going to leave the state with her. There was no way I was going to let that happen, especially since I knew what kind of sick twisted asshole he is. I don't always do the right thing but I did love Brittany at one time. I was really only going to take her daughter and hide her away until Christopher lost interest in her and moved on to something else. I told Christopher that the little girl was my daughter and that I was taking her, but he laughed and said I would never have the guts to do anything like that. I tried to talk to Brittany to tell her, I called her on the phone and tried to explain what I needed to do, but she wouldn't hear me. I begged her to meet me at that diner, she finally agreed but she even said that I was insane. I was only trying to help her." He said beginning to sob. "And then I don't know what happened, when I was there at the house. I went there to try one more time to convince her. I even made up my mind that I would just take her and the baby and then they would be safe. But she wouldn't come with me, and all I could hear was Christopher in my ear telling me over and over and over how worthless I am, telling me to finally do something…. 'Pull the trigger he said…. Do it…. Don't be a coward.' And I did… god help me I killed her." He cried.

Sonny and Will looked at each other. Sonny reached out and touched Bennett's shoulder. "Hey," he said. "Pull yourself together. We are going to try and help you." He said.

"So the little girl… she isn't yours?" Will asked. Mark Bennett shook his head no… "I saw Brittany several months after we broke up and she looked happier than I had ever seen her look. She was just beginning to show. She had mentioned several times how much she wanted a child. I assumed that was the reason for her happiness." He said. "Do you know how the father of the child is?" Sonny asked. Bennett shook his head no. "No, I don't know and I am not sure she knew either."

His phone started vibrating in his pocket. Sonny pulled it out and looked at the screen. "She's here so we have to get back downstairs." He said to Will. Will stood up. "Thank you for talking to us, we will be back around to see you in a few days, hopefully with some kind of good news." Sonny said.

Sonny got up and they walked out of the room. The two officers were standing outside the door. "We are done for now. Thank you." Sonny said.

They gathered their weapons and headed to the elevator. "What do you make of that?" Sonny asked Will. "Well, that is some story but I want to believe him." Will said. "I don't think he is a cold blooded killer." Sonny nodded. "I don't think so either. His grandfather said that he was never really good about making decisions." Will scoffed. "Well neither am I, but Thank God, I haven't killed anyone yet." Sonny pushed his shoulder. "You know what I mean, what if he panicked at the last minute? I almost feel sorry for him, but that doesn't mean I am forgiving him for the few minutes that I spent thinking that you had been shot." Sonny said as they walked onto the elevator.

They got off the elevator as soon as the doors opened, and hurried down the corridor to Captain Haskins office. Will pushed the door open and they stepped into the room.

Castleberry looked at them as they walked into the room. "What are they doing here?" she snapped. "Detective Kiriakis has a couple of questions for you." Captain Haskins said. "I don't have to answer any of his questions." She ground out. "Well, I say you do." Chief Morwessell interjected.

"Ms. Castleberry," Sonny said. "Do you know Christopher Bennett?" Sonny asked her. Her eyes hardened, "Of course I know who he is, I had to be the one to deal with the fallout after your idiotic blunder on that last search warrant you served… oh wait that's right you didn't have a warrant." She said nastily.

"And whose fault would that have been?" Sonny asked. "It isn't my job to babysit you while you do your job." She snapped. "You are the sorriest excuse for a detective I have ever seen."

"That is quite enough of that." Chief Morwessell said, "Keep your opinions to yourself and just answer the questions."

"What I should have asked is Do you know or have you ever known Christopher Bennett on a personal level?" Sonny said. He watched her carefully, and if he hadn't been looking for it he may have missed the shiver that passed through her body.

"Of course not." She said, "If that had been the case then I would have automatically removed myself from the case. I am a district attorney, I do know the rules." She said snottily. Sonny nodded. "May I ask where you attended law school and what year you began and what year you graduated?" He continued. "I don't see what that has to do with anything." She said angrily. Sonny shrugged. "Humor me." She looked at Chief Morwessell and he nodded his head, indicating that she should answer the question. "I went to Law School at the North Carolina School of Law and I graduated in 2011." She huffed. "Satisfied?"

"So you didn't attend DePaul University for a semester in 2007?" Sonny asked. She gave him a go to hell look. "No of course I didn't." She said. "Go ahead, be my guest, call them." She said, picking up the phone and holding it out to him with a triumphant smile on her face. Sonny shook his head, taking the phone from her and dropping it back in the cradle, "That won't be necessary." He said. "Will and I went up to DePaul and met with the President, Mr. Markinson, he is a very fine gentleman, extremely helpful. He actually confirmed for us that you didn't go there. Well at least not as Jennifer Castleberry. But he did have a transcript for a Natasha Whitfield." Sonny said.

The color drained from her face. "Wwwhat does that have to do with me?" she asked. "I think that you know exactly what that has to do with you." Sonny said. "My name is Jennifer Castleberry." She said, "I don't know any Natasha Whitfield."

"We have someone that identified you as Natasha Whitfield." Threadgill said. "There is no need to deny it any longer."

"Well they got it wrong." She ground out. "I am not Natasha Whitfield." She was beginning to shake. "Then why is Julian Bennett so sure that you and Natasha are one in the same?" Sonny asked. "He is prepared to give a sworn statement if necessary." Tears welled in her eyes. "Let me get him on the phone and ask him to come down here right now. I am sure he is in town since Mark, his other grandson is in a holding tank upstairs for murder."

"I am not Natasha…" She screamed. "Natasha is dead."

A hush fell over the room. She looked around at everyone with wide eyes. "What do you mean she's dead?" Sonny asked. "Julian Bennett positively identified you as Natasha."

She sighed and sank down onto a chair, resigned to tell the story that she had kept to herself for the last eight years. "Natasha was my twin sister." She said. "We were always super close, I loved my sister with all my heart. She was dead set on being a lawyer. I wasn't really interested in it, but I wanted to be with her so I signed up for a few pre law courses. She met Christopher just before she started law school. I disliked him right from the start, he was an asshole and he didn't treat her right, but she was head over heels for him, even though he took her money, he was always gambling, and he had a lot of debt. One day we were on our way to class, we were walking that day because the weather was gorgeous, it was an Indian summer day and Tasha loved being outdoors. We saw a woman being dragged into an alley, we ran over to try and help her, and according to Tasha there would be three of us and only one of them. She always wanted to be a hero. When we got into the edge of the alley there was another man and he had just slit the young woman's throat. I recognized him right away, he was a high ranking government official and he had just killed a woman right in front of us. Tasha and I ran like hell. We got home and hid in the dark, discussing our options. I watched enough crime television shows to know what happens to people who witness murders. Finally we decided we had to go to the police, but we didn't trust the local cops, so we contacted the FBI. They got us into the witness protection program really fast in exchange for our testimony." She said, wiping the tears from her face. "Anyway she didn't want to drag Christopher into our mess, she was positive that he would try to find a way to blackmail the person we were supposed to testify against. And she was probably right, he was always stupid, and it seemed exactly like something he would do. So she went to his job, the day we disappeared and broke it off. Then we were gone, we ended up in North Carolina as you may have already figured out. We joined the law school there and everything started coming together. Tasha was always sad that she would never get the chance to be a district attorney, because it was her dream, she said that she didn't know if she wanted to go to school all that time to be a small town lawyer. But we plodded on through school just the same. Just before our pre law graduation, we got a call from the FBI agent that was assigned to our case. He told us that they person that we were supposed to testify against had died of a brain aneurysm in his home before he had ever been charged of a crime."

She stopped and took a deep breath. She looked around the room, before she continued. "We were free, but we couldn't go back to our old lives. We had already been through pre law school under our new identities. The one thing that Tasha decided to do was contact Christopher. I begged and pleaded with her to leave him alone, but she would not hear it. She said she loved him, and she wanted to be with him. So she called him and he agreed to come down and see her. She went and met him at the bus station, they were on the way back to the house and they were involved in a head on collision. I rushed to the hospital and sat by her bedside. She finally regained consciousness, but it didn't last long. She used her last breath to beg me to take care of Christopher. I figured the best way I could help him stay out of trouble was to go on through law school and become a lawyer, so I finished school and here I am. I am living the life my sister was supposed to live. So Yeah I guess you could say that I know him on a personal level."

"So then what is your name?" Sonny asked. She looked at him blankly for a minute. "Oh." She said, "Vanessa…. Vanessa Whitfield is my name." Captain Haskins Stood, he exchanged a glance with Agent Threadgill. "Is that why you have been giving him information about the case and why you held back on getting the search warrant that Kiriakis needed?" Chief Morwessell asked tersely.

She nodded, "Yes, I guess I lost sight of who I am, trying to keep my promise to my dying sister. I pleaded with him to stop the madness, I pleaded with him to leave town, told him that was the last time I was going to help him. But he just wouldn't leave…."

"Do you realize that if it wasn't for you the little Givens girl would still be alive?" Sonny shouted.

"I know." She sobbed. "I tried to get him to stop, I just wanted him to go away and be someone else's problem." Sonny looked at her incredulously… "You wanted him to get away and go to another town to pray on their children? You are as sick as he is." He said.

Threadgill pulled her to her feet. "Detective Kiriakas, would you read Ms. Castleberry her rights?"

Sonny nodded. "With Pleasure." He said before he began reciting the Miranda warning. "You have the right to remain silent." He began…..


	29. Chapter 29

Chief Morwessell insisted on taking the D.A. down to booking himself. He wanted to make sure they understood the importance of keeping her arrest quiet for now. Once he had left the office with her Sonny turned to Threadgill. "We need to find Bennett, hopefully before this information hits the news. Once he see's she has been arrested there is no telling what he may do."

Threadgill nodded his agreement. "I can see it going two different ways, Either he is going to disappear, or he is going to go off of the rails, Neither one of those is a win for us." Will shook his head, "Yeah you're right about that, so where do we begin?" He asked.

Sonny opened his mouth, but clamped it closed again, just short of telling Will that he needed to get some rest. He didn't want to go around making the same mistakes over and over. "Let's go." Threadgill  
said, "We can talk on the way." They all exited the room. "Keep me informed Captain Haskins called behind them." Sonny turned back. "Sure thing Captain." He said then jogged to catch up as they all piled onto the elevator.

"Kiriakis, you and Horton run by and check his apartment, even though I am nearly positive he will not be going back there now. Then double back around and check the sports plex again, make sure the officers are still there and no one has been there." Sonny nodded, "Got it, w here are you going?" Threadgill thought for a minute. "I am going to go over and give Castleberry, or Vanessa Whitfield, whatever the hell we are calling her now, I am going to check her apartment." He said. Sonny looked at him. "Alone?" Will asked. Threadgill shrugged, "Sure, She is in lock up, I don't think I will find anything there, but we have to check out every possibility." He said. "Well, keep in touch with us." Sonny said. They stepped out of the elevator, and separated.

Will and Sonny got into their car and wasted no time pulling out, Sonny pointed the car in the direction of Bennett's apartment building. He noticed that Will was unusually quiet. "Hey," He said, "What's on your mind?" Will shook his head, "Not much, I just feel like there is something we are missing." He said. "Like what?" Sonny asked. "I don't know, it's just a feeling. It may just be me being paranoid." Will answered. Sonny reached over and squeezed his hand.

They finally got to the complex, Sonny noticed one of their unmarked cars pulled over on the opposite side of the street. He pulled up behind them and he and Will got out. He gave them a little nod as they  
walked past the unit and into the apartment building. Sonny took the stairs while Will took the elevator upstairs. When they met back up in the hall way they walked together over to the apartment door. The door had just been pulled up and was not closed tightly. It creaked open when Will reached out and knocked on it. "What the hell?" Sonny said, immediately drawing his weapon from the holster. Will followed his lead and kicked the door on open. "Hello…. CHICHAGO PD." Sonny called loudly. They listened, there was no noise inside the apartment. "Hello" Sonny called again. There was still no answer, Sonny stepped cautiously inside the apartment, "Christopher Bennett.." Sonny called.. More silence greeted him. He looked around at Will, "Looks like no one is home, but we should search the apartment just in case." He said. Will stepped inside the door behind Sonny and together they went from room to room in the tiny apartment. There was no one there and nothing to indicate that anyone had been there in several days. They walked out of the apartment and closed the door behind them. When they were back down stairs, they walked over to where the two officers that were assigned to the apartment building were still sitting in the car parked across the street.

"How long have you two been here?" Sonny asked. "Almost 6 hours." The older of the two answered. "Any sign of Bennett?" Sonny asked. "Nope, not at all." The officer answered him. Sonny pulled a card from his wallet, "That has my personal cell number on it, if you should happen to see him, I need you to contact me immediately." He said. The officer took the card and tucked it into his shirt pocket. "Alright, I will do that." He said.

Sonny turned to Will, who was still being overly quiet. "Let's go Will." He said. They got back into the car and Sonny turned them in the direction of the sports plex. "Will, why don't you call and check on Threadgill, You can tell him that we are headed on over to the sports plex now. " He said.

Will immediately picked up his phone and he dialed Threadgill's number and it rang several times before his voice mail picked up. Will left a brief message and disconnected the call. They pulled onto the street the sports plex was on. It looked deserted except for the patrol car, that was parked on the side of the street. Sonny parked beside it and they climbed out of their car yet again. They made their way through the weeds to the back of the building. There was one lone officer sitting in a chair against the  
door. He jumped when Sonny and Will came into view. "What the hell?" He said. "You scared the shit out of me." He said accusingly scrambling out of his chair and dropping his phone in the process.

"Sorry about that, but I am pretty sure that you are supposed to be paying closer attention to what the hell is going on around here." Sonny said blandly. The officer glared at Sonny as he bent down and retrieved his phone. "Yeah? And just who the fuck are you?" He snapped.

Sonny narrowed his eyes, "Detective Jackson Kiriakis, and you would be well advised to watch your attitude and your tone with me." He bit out. "Has anyone been around here tonight?"

"No one but me." The officer replied. Will looked at him closely, there was something nagging at him about the officer. "Where is your partner?" He asked. "You should not be assigned here alone." He  
turned his glare to Will. "Not that it is any of your business, but my partner got sick and I told him it would be okay for him to go on home. It isn't like there is anything going on here anyway." He said.  
"Hey!" Sonny said. "Will, call head quarters and get him some help out here, I am going to take a quick look inside." Sonny said. The officer stepped in front of Sonny "Didn't you hear me; I said I don't need any help, and besides that FBI agent told me not to let anyone in this building, as far as I am concerned that means you." The officer said. Sonny turned to Will…. "Make the call." He said.

Will took out his phone and called the station requesting a back up unit to the sports plex. Then he dialed Threadgill's number. It rang several times and then went to voice mail again. "Sonny. We have to  
move now." Will said. Something was bothering him about the officer standing guard at the sports building, but he pushed it from his mind. The most important thing right now was getting to Agent Threadgill and making sure that he was okay. Sonny looked over at him. "Still nothing?" he asked. "Nope." Will said, "Nothing." They walked quickly back to the car and Sonny slid into the driver's seat. He picked up the radio, "Dispatch." He said. It was a moment before he got an answer, "Go ahead." She answered. "This is Detective Kiriakis." Sonny said. "Can you get me any available unit in the area of Woodmont and Lexington Ave to respond to the Wyndmere Towers, 10th floor ASAP." He asked. "10-4" Dispatch said. He put the radio down and waited. A couple of seconds later his request went out over the radio. Sonny had already started the car and was speeding toward the same area.

"You don't think?" Will asked. Sonny shook his head. "I don't know, I hope not, but I am not taking any chances." Sonny said as he pulled onto the freeway and maneuvered in and out of the traffic.

The radio between them crackled. "Detective Kiriakis." Dispatch called. "Go ahead." Sonny said picking up the radio. "Detective we have unit 10 at the Wyndmere, they said they aren't seeing any suspicious activity, they are requesting some details on what they should be looking for." She said. "10-4" Sonny said, "We are almost there as well, but we are looking for any sign of FBI Agent Threadgill, we have not been able to reach him in the last two hours and that was his last known location, please ask unit 10 to sit tight and wait for me there." Sonny informed her. "10-4, Dectective, I will relay the information."

Sonny sped on toward the complex and they got there about 10 minutes later. Sonny screeched to a stop directly in front of the building. They jumped out and hurried up to the tenth floor. When they stepped off of the elevator the officers were waiting there.

"There is no one here." The dark haired officer said, "We knocked on the door but no one answered." Sonny nodded, he didn't want to give away to the officers that the D.A. had been arrested, "Have you seen any sign of Agent Threadgill?" he asked. The same dark haired officer was the one to answer. "We haven't seen a soul since we have been here." He said.

Sonny looked at Will, he had a panicked look in his eyes, Will shrugged his shoulders. The way Sonny looked it wouldn't take much to push him into a full blown panic. He didn't want to admit it but he was beginning to get a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

They took a quick look around for themselves and didn't find anything more than what the officers had found. "I'm calling the Chief." Sonny said as they went down the elevator. They walked out onto the street and Sonny dialed the station. He asked to be connected to the chief and then waited as he was patched through. "Morwessell." The chief said as he came onto the line. "Chief." Sonny said, "This is Sonny, We can't locate Agent Threadgill, Have you heard from him?" He asked. Sonny was quiet as he listened to what the chief had to say.

Will pulled out his phone, he had decided to dial Threadgill again. He saw that he had a missed call from him. It was like a burden had been lifted from his shoulders. Will stepped in front of Sonny and held up the phone so that he could see the missed call. "It must have come through while we were in the elevator." Will whispered. Sonny nodded. "Call him back."

Will dialed the number and waited for the other man to answer. As soon as he picked up, Will started talking. "Where are you?" He asked. He listened as Threadgill explained where he was, and where he had been.

"I went over to the Wyndmere and took a look around the apart first, just as I planned. There was nothing there. Some clothes and things like that, but nothing that was personal. So I decided that I would go and check out her office. So I doubled back and went to her office and searched through her things there. I didn't find a lot at first, but in a small envelope taped to the back of one of the drawers was a small card with an address and a key. So I took that and then dropped by my office at the federal building and did a search of the address and guess who owns it…. That's right Jennifer Castleberry, and guess when she rented it…. " he said continuing on, answering his own questions. "Eight months ago."

"Hmm" Will said, "That's interesting." "That's what I thought too." Threadgill said. "I just left my office and saw that you had called me several times, I guess my phone was on low volume. But I was fixing to call you anyway, can you both meet me at the station? My hunch is that this apartment could be where he is hiding, and right now he has no idea that we know she is his source. We need to act fast." He said. "Yeah I agree, we are on the way." Will said.

"Sonny, we gotta go." Will said, jumping in the car, Sonny slid behind the wheel and looked at Will. "Station." Will said, since Sonny was still listening to the chief. "Well we are on our way to the station." Sonny said. "See you in a bit."

Sonny drove them toward the station, while Will filled him in on everything that Threadgill had said. Sonny nodded and pressed a button on his phone. "Who are you calling?" Will asked. "Jensen and Williams." Sonny said, "I think that we are going to need all the help that we can get." Will waited while he made the call. "I am sure you are right." He said. They made it back to the station and climbed out of the car. Williams was waiting for them near the elevator. "Come on." He said. "You don't even have to go inside, Threadgill is briefing the SWAT team right around the corner. They are getting suited up and ready to go. They rounded the corner and Threadgill was busily giving out instructions and the men were all passing a picture of Christopher Bennett around. "Gentlemen, this is our target. He is likely armed and dangerous." He said.

"Oh good you are here." Threadgill said. "Commander, these two men are going to need vests." He called. The commander of the SWAT team tossed two bullet proof vests over to Will and Sonny. The took their weapon holsters off and slipped into the vest and watched as Threadgill did the same.

"I guess we are just going in guns blazing?" Sonny asked. Threadgill nodded, "Well as carefully as we can, but I don't want to take any chances that we could lose him. I want this over with… tonight!" he said. Sonny nodded. He wanted it over too, but his mind was also working overtime trying to think of a way to ask Will to stay behind.

Jensen, who had been watching the entire exchange, put his hand on Sonny's shoulder. "Don't do it, man." He whispered. Sonny looked at him surprised and realized that yes…. Jensen recognized and understood what had been on his mind.

"Will." Threadgill called. "Can I see you?" he asked. Will looked up and ambled over to him. "Yeah?" he said. "How are you feeling?" he asked. Will shrugged, "I am sore, but I think I am good." He answered honestly. Threadgill nodded. "You have put a lot of work in on this case." He said, "So I am not going to ask you to stay behind, but I am going to ask that you be extremely careful, Sonny will never forgive me if anything happens to you." Will chuckled. "I got it," he said, "Sonny has been fighting the urge to tell me that I need rest all day today." Threadgill chuckled along with him.

Meanwhile Sonny turned to Jensen. "I need him to be safe." He said. "And he will be." Jensen said. "We will look out for him, but remember what I told you about making him feel inferior, he is a damn fine officer." He said. "I know." Sonny said. "I will just be glad when this is over." Jensen nodded "You and me both." He agreed.

"Alright, Let's get ready to roll out." Threadgill called. "Kirakis you and Horton are with me." He said. "Jensen you and Williams are going to be with Captain Haskins. It will be up to you two to make sure that he is kept safe. " He said. "Haskins is coming with us?" Jensen asked. "Yes I am," The Captain said as he stepped out of the stairwell. "I want to make sure that nothing goes wrong." He said.

The commander opened the back of the SWAT Truck and the officers all climbed in the back and he closed the door. Sonny and Will followed Threadgill to his car and Williams and Jensen climbed into the car with the Captain.

Threadgill led the way across town and Sonny realized that Threadgill had never told them what part of town the address was in. "What part of the city are we going to?" He asked. "Northside." Threadgill said. "A small complex, in comparison to the other one. This is more of a townhome, so thank goodness there won't be a lot of other people around.

"Oh, okay." Sonny said. He sat back and was quiet the rest of the way to the complex. They rolled up in front of the building and climbed out of the car. The SWAT van pulled up beside them and the officers all piled out of the back. Threadgill looked at the two townhouses next to the one they were focused on, they looked dark and empty, he did not believe anyone was home. The unit they were here for, was dark as well, the blinds were all closed tightly. They went up to the front door with their weapons drawn. They waited while several members of the swat team made their way around back. Then Threadgill banged loudly on the door. "FBI" He called "OPEN UP." There was nothing, no sign of anyone, no sound. Threadgill banged against the door again, a little louder. "FBI" He said. They listened quietly. Captain Haskins was behind the patrol car, and Williams and Jensen were sticking close to him.

"I don't think anyone is here." Will said. Threadgill nodded. "You may be right, but I am about out of ideas." He said. Will nodded. They turned to walk back out to the car. Threadgill wanted to ask the Captain if he could get them a warrant. There was a crash inside the apartment. The commander turned and motioned for his team, who came forward with a battering ram. Threadgill, Sonny, and Will moved out of the way and watched as the SWAT team breached the door. Then they moved aside and let the other members of the team precede them inside the apartment. There was a plant in a clay pot broken in the middle of the floor. The officers went through the rooms one by one. "Clear." They called each time they passed through a room, checking, closets, cabinets, even under beds, until they came across the sole occupant of the townhouse. In the bedroom, under the bed, in the dark they found a large orange Tabby cat. The commander came back through the front door. "No one is in there, he said, the cat must have knocked over the plant when you banged on the door. It is a skittish thing."

"FUCK!" Threadgill swore. "Don't be too upset," the commander said, "your hunch was on target, I think your suspect has been here, there are several boxes of photo equipment in the bedroom." Threadgill made his way into the residence. Sonny and Will followed him in. They listened as he called the station and asked for a crime scene team to get out there.

He turned and looked around the room. "What now?" he asked. "I have to tell you, I don't have a damn thing."

They walked out of the apartment and over to the captain. "Where are you going to go from here?" Captain Haskins asked. Threadgill shook his head. "I honestly have no idea." He said. Sonny was quiet, he was sure hoping that Bennett would have been here and it would have all been over.

The radio in the car went off… "ATTENTION ALL UNITS!" The dispatcher called. "WE HAVE AN AMBER ALERT, CHILD'S NAME IS : CAITLYN MARSINA, SHE IS 5 YEAR OLD FEMALE, BROWN HAIR, BRAIDED, GREEN EYES, LAST SEEN ON THE NORTHSIDE AT MARIANO'S FRESH MARKET, EAST BENTON PLACE, SHE WAS WEARING BLUE JEANS WITH A LIGHT PINK TEE SHIRT.

"NOOOO! DAMN IT!" Sonny shouted. "That SICK BASTARD!"

"Let's go." Threadgill said, "Get in now, we have to go and talk to the witnesses at the store."

They jumped in the car. Threadgill rolled down his window. "Jensen you and Williams, take the Captain and drop him off and meet us there." He said just before he sped off.

Sonny and Threadgill were talking up front but Will was quiet, Something was off, he had been missing something all day. He laid his head back and closed his eyes… he didn't open them again until Threadgill peeled into the parking lot at Mariano's market. Threadgill and Sonny jumped out. Will moved a little slower. The Bullet proof vest was pressing on his bruises and it was really slowing him down. Sonny and Threadgill wasted no time, they went straight to the manager of the store and started grilling him. Will got out of the car and leaned against the door for a minute. Just then a fire truck pulled into the parking lot and a couple of firemen jumped down out of the cab.

One of the fireman walked over to him. "Hey Will, how are you doing?" he asked. Will looked at him for a minute. "Hi." He said. "You look good," he said looking from Will's eyes to his feet and back up again. "Are you ever going to take me up on that offer to show you around?" he asked. Then Will remembered who he was. "Prine." He said. "Well I prefer Jeremy, from my friends, but yeah you are right." He laughed. "Of course." Will said, "Sorry, I just didn't remember your first name." Jeremy gave him a wounded look, "Ouch." He said, "You sure know how to deflate a guys ego." He said.

"Prine, Get over here." Someone called. "Yep!" He called over his shoulder. "Well, I gotta go, let me know if you ever change your mind." He said. Will just waved. He leaned against the car again. "Man that guy just didn't know when to quit." He thought. He thought back to the night of his and Sonny's first date. Sonny had not liked him then, and probably wouldn't like him now. Then something else from that night flashed through his mind, and another piece of the puzzle clicked into place."

"OH MY GOD! I KNOW WHERE HE IS GOING!" He said. He tore through the crowd to find Sonny and Threadgill.


	30. Chapter 30

Will hurried around through the crowd of people that had gathered in the parking lot until he finally found Sonny and Threadgill talking to the store manager. He walked up and listened as the manager went over the details again. As Will listened to what he had to say, he realized that the man wasn't sure exactly what had happened. He stated that he was in the office working on the books, just as he normally did. One minute everything was quiet and the next minute one of the cashiers announced over the loud speaker that there was a 'Code Adam' within the store. While those were not unheard of, they were also not a common occurrence. He explained that once a Code Adam is called out, it is the policy of the store that each employee immediately stop what he or she is doing and search for the child. They had all stopped and searched the store over for the child, and when they did not find her on the second sweep he had immediately dialed 911.

They all listened attentively to him. When he was silent, Threadgill spoke up, "We are going to need immediate access to any and all security footage that you may have." He said. The manager nodded, "Of  
course, right this way." He said. Threadgill and Sonny moved to follow him, but Will reached out and grabbed Sonny's arm. "I need to talk to both of you right now." He said. "It's urgent." Williams and Jensen were just walking up. Threadgill looked at Will and nodded. "Williams, go with that gentleman right there, he is going to give you access to the security footage." Threadgill instructed him. "Jensen you come with us." He said as he led them away from the growing crowd of people.

"Alright Will." He said. Will nodded. "Something has been bothering me, nagging at me all afternoon." He said. "I finally figured out what it is. Sonny, do you remember earlier when we went by the gym and that smart ass young cop was there alone, the one with the huge chip on his shoulder." He asked waiting for Sonny to think it over. "Yeah." Sonny said nodding. "Okay now think back to that first time that you took me to Kelly's." He pressed. Sonny thought for another minute. "Our first date?" he asked. Will nodded excitedly. "Is this little trip down memory lane almost over?" Threadgill interrupted, I would like to get back to trying to find this missing child." He said crossly. Will blushed, "I have a point, I promise." He said. "Well make it, son." Threadgill said impatiently, "And be quick about it."

Will nodded. "Remember we were dancing as Castleberry was leaving that night and she bumped into us almost knocking us over." Will said. "Do you remember the person that was with her?" He continued without giving Sonny a chance to answer. Sonny shook his head no. "Not really." He admitted. Jensen chuckled, "That doesn't surprise me at all, Sonny here was seeing red… Remember Will, Williams date wanted you, he kept hitting on you." He teased. Will narrowed his eyes at Jensen. "Shut up." He said. "Sonny concentrate... We only saw him for a minute, but it was that same cop, I am positive." Sonny thought back, he had turned around ready to punch someone and then Castleberry had been standing there, and right behind her, Will was right! "SON OF A…" he swore, "You're right, how did I miss that?"

"Wait a second." Threadgill interrupted, "So you mean that someone Castleberry or Whitfield or whatever the hell we are calling her now, is friendly with is guarding one of the crime scenes alone?" he asked. Will nodded, "Yep, AND I think that he may have taken his latest victim there." He said.

"Let's go.." Threadgill said , practically sprinting. He lead the way to the unmarked car. They all climbed in and Threadgill was pulling away from the curb before all of the doors were closed. Sonny and Will  
were in the back seat, Jensen and Threadgill up front. "Jensen get on that radio and call for some back up." Threadgill said. "We will make it there before anyone else but we are going in, I am not taking a  
chance on losing this bastard again."

Jensen followed his command, telling the dispatcher to send anyone and everyone that she could spare their way. Sonny listened to the exchange, dread and fear were growing like lead in his stomach. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself, clenching his jaw so that he didn't open it and allow something stupid to come pouring out. He looked over at Will and took a marginal amount of comfort in the fact that he was still wearing the bullet proof vest from earlier, and it was secured tightly around him.

Threadgill pulled onto the road the sports plex was on and simultaneously picked up the radio. "Dispatch this is FBI Special Agent Threadgill, I need an ETA on my backup." He said. "10-4, Agent  
Threadgill, give me a moment." The channel went silent for a moment before she was back. "Agent Threadgill, ETA on that back up is ranging from 6 minutes to 12 minutes." Threadgill sighed. "10-4 Dispatch, tell them to hustle it up, we are going in." He said.

He opened the door, "Let's go." He said. Will hurried to get out of the car, he knew the sooner this was over, the sooner he could get out of the vise grip of the bullet proof vest he was wearing. It was  
getting increasingly difficult for him to breathe. Threadgill motioned for Sonny and Will to go along the open side of the building, while he and Jensen crept up the alley way between the other side of the  
building and a decaying privacy fence. The minute Sonny and Will rounded the corner the officer stood from the chair again. "What are you two clowns doing back here?" He sneered. "Let me guess, you can't  
find anywhere else to look?"

Sonny shrugged his shoulders. "We want to look here." He said matter of factly. The other man crossed his arms over his chest, "If you want to go in there you are going to have to produce some paperwork that tells me you have the authority to be in there." He smirked. "I can personally guarantee you that they have whatever authority they need to be in the building, Threadgill said from behind him. He whirled around to see Threadgill standing there with his weapon leveled at his chest. "Why don't you turn on around there and put your hands on the wall?" He suggested. The officer narrowed his eyes at him. "Who the fuck are you?" He sneered.

Agent Threadgill stepped out into the light. "Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Stephen Threadgill and you are under arrest, you son of a bitch." He said calmly. The other man scoffed,  
"And what exactly would I be under arrest for?" he asked. Sonny quickly moved up behind him and pulled his arm behind his back, he twisted him around and pressed him against the wall, holding him there with his body. The man roared, outraged… "Get the fuck off of me faggot!" He screeched. "Well I think we will start with obstruction of justice and hindering a federal investigation." Threadgill said loudly as he moved in and snapped the cuffs on him, "But mostly just because you are a fucking asshole."

The sound of glass breaking inside the building caught the attention of all four men. Will was the closest to the door and the only one who wasn't busy, he acted on impulse, jerking the door open and lunging  
through it. "Will!" Sonny screamed after him, but he was long gone. Sonny shoved the officer into the chair in front of the door while Threadgill followed Will into the building. There was shouting and  
what sounded like a tousle and then the terrified scream of a small child tore through the night, sending chills down Sonny's spine. A couple of officers came around the corner and Sonny sighed in relief,  
"Here get this jerk in your patrol car, make sure you read him his rights and then call for more help." He instructed as he rushed into the building.

He ran straight into Caitlyn. She took one look at him and threw herself into his arms, crying hysterically. He immediately folded her into his arms and pulled her against his chest. "Shhhh." He whispered.  
"I've got you, you're safe now." He crooned over and over until her sobs settled into sniffles. When he looked around there was no one to be seen, but glass covered the floor in the back and a large window  
was busted out. "Come on." He said lifting the child into his arms. "Let's get you to a safe place and call your mommy." He said. He carried her out of the building and back to the car. He looked around,  
relieved to see that there were several squad cars parked haphazardly in the street. He picked up the radio. "Dispatch this is detective Kiriakis, I need an ambulance and the crime scene unit to the corner  
of Jefferson Avenue and Main street immediately. Also I need you to notify the parents of Caitlyn Marsina that she is fine, and will be transported to UCMC for an evaluation." "10-4" the dispatcher called.

Sonny looked down and smiled gently. "It's going to be okay now." He said. "Did that man hurt you?" he asked her gently. She shook her head slowly. "But he wanted to." She said sadly. "I know." Sonny agreed  
hugging her to him again. He sent up a silent thank you that they had gotten to her before anything really terrible could happen, and added a small plea for Will's safety.

It was only a few short minutes before the wail of the approaching sirens could be heard. No doubt they were from the ambulance that had been dispatched to transport her to the hospital. Another squad car  
pulled up beside him and two female officers climbed out. Sonny called one of them over. He recognized Lindsey McClain from the academy. "Hey Linz… Can you and your partner watch over Caitlyn until the ambulance gets here to transport her to the hospital and then can you go with her, until I can get there? Will and Agent Threadgill are out chasing the suspect and I need to be out there helping them." He said. She nodded, "Of course." She said dropping to her knees in front of the child. "Hi Caitlyn, I'm Lindsey." She said. Sonny watched them for a minute before he picked up the radio and called for dispatch again.

"Dispatch, I need a 20 on Agent Threadgill, and Officer Horton." He said. Silence greeted his request. "Dispatch!" he called again. "Do you have any information?" "Detective Kiriakis." Dispatch came back, "They are not responding to requests for location at the moment." She said. "I got permission from  
the Chief to pull the location of the GPS on Agent Threadgill's cell. The transponder puts them at 4312 Jefferson Ave. That address looks like it is an abandoned apartment complex just down the street from  
where you are. "Yeah, I know where it is." Sonny said, "Thanks." He dropped the radio into the seat and took off at a run.  
Just as he was about to enter the building, he slowed down and gulped in a few breaths of fresh air, clearing his mind, so he could concentrate on finding Will and Threadgill. He pulled and checked his  
weapon, flipping the safety off. An unmarked car pulled up beside him and Williams jumped out. "Where is everyone." Sonny inclined his head toward the building, "In there I am assuming." He said "We have to hurry." He looked at the building, there was no noise and it didn't appear that anyone had been in the building in a very long time. Sonny was contemplating double checking the address with dispatch, when the sound of shots ripped through the silence. He rushed up the front steps and pushed through the door. "WILL!" he screamed, as he tore up the stairs. "Up here." Will called back. The fear that gripped his heart eased off a bit and he was able to breathe easier. Will was at least okay enough to answer him.

He rounded the last stair case and saw Will flattened against the wall. His first instinct was to go straight to him, but Williams grabbed his shirt. "Hey MAN…. Hold up." He said. Sonny nodded and followed his example, molding himself to the wall and edging slowly closer to Will. When they were finally across from Will, Sonny asked "Where is Threadgill?" he asked. Will closed his eyes for a brief minute. "I don't know, we got separated." Sonny nodded. "That's okay." He said reassuring Will. "That happens sometimes." Will nodded. "What about Jensen?" Sonny asked. "I haven't seen him since he followed  
Threadgill down that alley." Will said. "FUCK!" Sonny swore. He moved off of the wall and took a step toward the landing. Another shot rang out, flying by Sonny so close that he heard the bullet whizz by his  
ear. "GET DOWN!" Williams shouted behind him. Sonny sucked back close to the wall. "Are you crazy?" Will shouted at him. Sonny ignored them. He pushed off the wall again. "Bennett, you may as well give up, we know it is you. There is nowhere for you to go." He called loudly. "Why don't you come with us so we can get you some help. You're sick and you need some help."

"FUCK YOU." Bennett roared, "I ain't going nowhere with you."

"Come on out, and talk to me." Sonny said, "I am putting down my gun, let's just talk." He said as he squatted down and placed his gun on the floor of the landing. He trusted Will and Williams to have his back. "I ain't stupid." Bennett said, "I know there are more out there."

"Okay." Sonny said. "Let me come in there then…. Just me and you so we can talk."

Bennett remained silent, Sonny took a couple of careful, small steps forward. He made it to the door and reached down to open the door. "Bennett, I am coming in, I am unarmed. He said as he turned the knob and pushed the door open. He raised his empty hands, showing Bennett that he was telling the truth. He took a couple of steps into the room, Bennett looked at him warily. "Close the fucking door." He sneered. "You know I can't do that." Sonny said, "The door has to remain open." Bennett narrowed his eyes at Sonny and raised the gun in his hand, aiming at Sonny's forehead. "I said close the fucking door." He snapped. Sonny recognized the wild look in his eyes. "Okay." He said taking a step back and pushing the door closed. Then he took another tentative step toward Bennett. Closing the door basically cut off any possible way for Williams or Will to help him. There was no way for them to have a shot or even know what was going on in the room. He realized that if he was going to make it out of the room he was going to have to disarm him. "STAY AWAY FROM ME." Bennett shouted.

"Okay…. Okay." Sonny said, taking one step back. "Tell me why you did this." Sonny said. Bennett looked at him like he was crazy. "Why I did what?" Bennett scoffed, "I haven't done anything." Sonny looked back at him blankly. "Tell me why you keep hurting all of those little girls." He whispered. "All of those sweet, innocent little girls."

"SHUT UP!" Bennett shouted. "They aren't poor, sweet, and innocent girls." His voice cracked… "Then what are they?" Sonny asked. "They are horrible, creatures that steal things from you." Bennett said  
snidely. "What did they steal from you?" Sonny asked quietly. His goal was to get Bennett talking so that he could get the door opened again.

"Momma loved me until she came along… then she had no more time for me. She stole my momma from me. And I wanted to hurt her." He said. "Who are you talking about?" Sonny pushed. "Catherine didn't steal your mother from you." Bennett looked at him like he was crazy… "She wasn't my sister." He stated, "But I hated her too." Sonny was getting more and more confused with every statement that Bennett made. "But you only had one sister." He said. "Catherine wasn't my sister…" he roared. "She was some pathetic little sickly girl that belonged to one of the whores my father married. But Christina was, she was the one that stole my mother's love from me." He said. "But I took care of her good, and then I taught Mama a lesson too." A cold chill crept down Sonny's spine. He had known that Bennett was a sick bastard, but he never once thought that he was a cold blooded killer. He had honestly  
believed that Bennett had killed the Givens girl by accident. He didn't think that he had actually meant to take her life. He had not killed any of the others. But Sonny could not figure out why none of this was in his file, unless Castleberry had been orchestrating the investigation from the beginning.

"What did you do?" Sonny asked hesitantly, "What do you mean you took care of her?" he said, already dreading the answer. Bennett was silent for a minute or two and Sonny was beginning to wander if he was going to answer. Then he began talking. "I smothered her to death with a pillow when she was 2 years old." He said nonchalantly, "I couldn't take it anymore, she had to go and Mother had to learn her lesson. So I made her watch… and then she just wouldn't shut up… she cried and screamed at me to stop, she called me names and said I was a monster… so after I was done with Christina, I went to the kitchen and got the butcher knife… and I stabbed her until I couldn't even raise my arm anymore." He said. The next morning the neighbor came over and found me curled up in a puddle of blood. The police came and they sent me to a psychiatric hospital for treatment and evaluation." He continued.  
They asked over and over and over if I knew what happened to my mother, if I could remember anything and that's when I told them that my mother's drug addict boyfriend had gotten mad because she took his drugs and he must have done that to her, because I woke up and found her that way. I didn't tell them that the bitch got what she deserved. I guess I must be a pretty good actor because the next thing I know they were dropping me off on my father's door step." He finished. "Why are you telling me all of this now?" Sonny asked. "None of this was in your record… but then I am guessing that you knew that since you have had the D.A. in your pocket all this time." He said. Bennett looked at him and shrugged. "You aren't leaving this room, at least not alive… so I don't figure it matters." He answered. Sonny broke out into a cold sweat; in all the time he had been on the force he had never actually been afraid for his life. For all the emotion that Bennett was showing right now, Sonny thought that they could have been  
talking about the weather. He looked around the room. The door was still firmly closed and he was about half between it and the window. They were only a couple of stories up… worst case scenario he could jump and possibly survive the fall.

The moment the door had closed behind Sonny, Will understood the fear that had been plaguing Sonny. He felt physically sick. He wanted to scream and rail at Sonny for putting himself in harm's way. He was  
barely able to hold himself upright. He momentarily thought about bursting through the door himself, but didn't want to put Sonny in more danger. He heard footsteps bounding on the stairs behind him. He  
turned to see Agent Threadgill come into view. "Oh Thank God." He said. "Do you have him cornered in there?" he asked Will without preamble. Will nodded franctically. "Yes, But Sonny is in there." He  
said. "How the fuck did that happen?" Threadgill asked, looking between Will and Detective Williams. "What the hell is he thinking?"

"I don't know what the hell got into him but we have to get him out of there." Will said. He was beginning to feel frantic. Threadgill nodded. "Let me think a minute." He said. His eyes scanned the area around him. He looked at the apartment across the hall from the closed door. "Okay." He said. "I am going to get into position in there, out of sight. He knows you two are here but maybe he didn't hear me come up. We have to get him talking, lure him out of that room, so that I can get a shot at him." Threadgill said. "Give me a minute to get into position first and then go." He said, as he moved across the hall. He crowded into the darkest corner that provided him with a clear view of the landing outside the door.

Once he was settled in the room, Will stepped out into the open. "Bennett…" He called out. "You may as well come on out here, before this gets any worse." He said. "There is nowhere for you to go."

"You all better back off." Bennett screeched. "Back the fuck off rightnow, or you are going to be carrying your buddy here out in a body bag."

Will blanched visibly, but pushed on. "You don't want to add killing a cop to the long list of charges you are already facing." Will said. "Your life will be over if that happens." He could hear Bennetts manic laughter filter through the door. "My life is already over!" he hollered back. "I don't…. hey you better fucking stop right there…." He screamed just before a shot rang out…. "NOOOOO…SONNYYYYY.." Will cried as he took off on a run, he barreled through the door and slammed the entire force of his weight into Bennett. His breath left his lungs in a whoosh just before the pain burst through his body and the darkness overtook him.

Bennett was knocked backwards off balance, but quickly regained his bearings. He roared angrily kicking at Will. "Bennett" Sonny called from his position half in and out of the window. He wanted to draw  
Bennett's attention back to him. He was desperate to get him away from Will.

~~~~~~~**********************~~~~~~~

"Son of a bitch!" Threadgill muttered to himself. He forced himself to remain calm, though everything in him was urging him to rush in behind Will. He simultaneously wanted to rush to help him, and kill him  
himself, for taking such a reckless chance. He could have been killed, or gotten Sonny killed in the process. Threadgill could see Bennett from his position, he took careful aim but as he was about to fire Bennett moved out of the line of his vision. Threadgill listened; he could hear Sonny begin to talk.

"You need to get out of here, right now." He urged. "They are probably moving into position outside, and if they catch you, you are going to jail for the rest of your life…. You may even get the death penalty  
for murdering that child." He said holding out his arms. "You can take me as a hostage, I will go with you, but we have to go right now." He said urgently. Will groaned on the floor, Bennett turned to look at him,  
rage filled his expression. "Hey…" Sonny called louder. "It has to be now… before anyone else comes." He said again. Sonny could tell that he was thinking about it. Finally Bennett jerked Sonny to him holding  
him in front of him like a human shield. "Let's go." He growled. Bennett edged over to the door and looked out carefully; he didn't see anyone so they clumsily made their way out onto the landing. That was when Bennett spotted Williams over in one corner of the staircase. Bennett turned to face him, putting Sonny between Williams and himself. "Drop it." He ordered, as he pressed the muzzle of his own  
gun into Sonny's side. Williams held his hands up in surrender. "Okay… just relax." He said, bending to place his gun on the floor.

Bennett was completely concentrated on Williams. Threadgill saw this as his one opportunity and took it. A quick burst of shots filled the silence, striking Bennett a total of three times. One bullet tore  
through his knee, then his shoulder and the last one penetrating him right behind his ear. The full force of his weight fell forward forcing Sonny to the ground. Bennett sprawled over his back. Williams  
scrambled over to him. "Sonny!" he called shoving the other man off of him. "Are you okay?" he asked. "Kiriakis… answer me…" he pleaded, rolling him onto his back.

"Will." Sonny croaked, "I have to get to Will." He said. Williams looked up and saw that Threadgill was already kneeling over Will, barking orders into his radio. Williams put his hand on Sonny's shoulder, pushing him back down. "Threadgill is taking care of him." He said. "He's okay, he just had the wind knocked out of him." Sonny finally relaxed back to wait for the ambulance.

A few minutes later Threadgill knelt down beside him. "Good work tonight Kiriakis." He said, "Although I had a couple of minutes where I wanted to kill you myself." Sonny nodded. "We got the job done." He  
said grinning. "Where is Jensen?" He asked. Threadgill sighed, "He is on the way to UCMC to get checked out, A couple of officers found him knocked unconscious in the alley way that we went down. Apparently Bennett went out that window that he busted out and Jensen was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He will be okay though."

"What about Bennett?" Sonny asked craning his neck to see where he was.

"He's dead." Threadgill said. "It's finally over."


	31. Chapter 31

"It's hard to believe it is over." Will said as he cuddled close to Sonny on the couch. They hadn't been home long from visiting Jensen at the hospital. He had a really nasty knot on his head and a slight concussion and he was going to be monitored through the night and then barring any complications he would be released.

"I know." Sonny agreed. "I am just glad it is over, I am not sure how much more I could have taken honestly" he said pulling Will closer. Will just held him quietly giving him time to talk about whatever was on his mind. When he remained silent he rubbed his hand over Sonny's abdomen. "At least he will never be able to hurt anyone else." He whispered. "I know and Caitlyn is going to be fine. I am so grateful that you figured it out and we got to her before that bastard could hurt her." Sonny said. "I don't even want to think of what could have happened to her if you hadn't remembered seeing Ramirez with Castleberry at Kelly's that night." Will shuddered, "Me either but you give me too much credit." He said, "It was a group effort and you really did all of the hard work." Sonny shook his head adamantly. "No, you did… you figured it out Will we would still be trying to figure out up from down if it wasn't for you. " Sonny said.

"Nope…" Will said, stifling a yawn.

"Fine, have it your way… but I know the truth." Sonny said gently moving Will over and getting to his feet. He held out a hand to Will."Come on, we should get some sleep. We have a literal mountain of paperwork to get through tomorrow." They walked into the bedroom hand in hand, Will continued into the bathroom while Sonny stopped in the bedroom and sat down on the bed to pull his shoes off.

Will stood in front of the bathroom mirror and brushed his teeth, then he pulled his tee shirt over his head and winced at the rainbow of colors that covered his chest. Bruises ranging in color from brown, yellowish gray to deep blue and purple. They were all in different stages of healing. He was still sore in a couple of places but felt one hundred percent better than he had in recent days.

He and Sonny hadn't had a lot of quality alone time together lately, with the case spiraling out of control. Sonny had practically shut down on him, on the way from the hospital when he had made a comment about finally having a minute to catch up on all the fun times they had been missing. He knew that Sonny was just worried about him, He had been hovering over him like a protective mother hen at the hospital while he got checked out. He hadn't even relaxed much when the ER doc had told him that Will had merely passed out from combined force of the confinement of the Bullet proof vest and crashing into the solid form of the other man when he had busted through the door.

He unbuttoned and unzipped his pants and pushed them off of his hips, before he reached in and turned the water on in the shower. He was about to step into the shower, when inspiration struck. Will opened the door to the bathroom. "Hey, are you taking a shower?"He asked. Sonny looked up from his reclined position on the bed. "Yeah, when you get finished." he said. "Oh." Will replied, fighting to keep the disappointment from his voice. He gave him a playful pout. "We could save water if we just showered together." he said. Sonny shook his head. "Probably not a great idea." He said. Will wriggled his eyebrows at Sonny, "I happen to think it is an amazing idea!" he said.

Sonny chuckled. "I will come and wash your back, but that is all that you're getting out of me tonight mister." he said as he got up off of the bed. Will gave up the pretense of not being disappointed and whined. "You are no fun." Sonny sighed, the last thing that he wanted to do was turn Will down, "Will, you are hurt... remember." he said as he walked slowly toward him. Will retreated back into the bathroom and stepped beneath the warm spray of the water. He knew Sonny's resolve and he had probably lost the battle, but he would win the war. He began to bathe while contemplating what he was going to do when he was done. He was concentrating so hard on the plan unfolding in his head that he didn't realize that Sonny was in the shower with him until he felt his hands glide down his back. Will smiled to himself, turning around. "So you are interested after all." he teased.

"Will you know that I want you, I just don't want to hurt you in the process." Sonny said. "Look at this.." he traced the deepest colors across his chest. "These are bad." Will shook his head. "They barley hurt anymore." He said. It was only a little white lie... some of the darker ones still hurt like a son of a bitch, but Sonny didn't have to know that. Will's fingers explored Sonny's chest and rib cage, getting reacquainted with the feel of Sonny's toned body. He crowded in closer to Sonny, kissing him softly. "Come on babe… It'll be okay, I promise, I just really want to be with you tonight. I need this." He whispered against his ear. He fit their hips together, rocking against Sonny suggestively punctuating his words. Sonny groaned and Will knew he had him.

Sonny backed Will up until his back was against the shower wall and dropped to his knees in front of him. He wrapped his fingers around Will's hard cock pumping him from base to tip, swiping his thumb over the head spreading the pearly white beads of cum that were dripping steadily from him. Sonny couldn't help himself, he leaned forward, dragging his tongue across the head. Will's shaft twitched in his hand and Sonny moaned loudly. He looked up at Will giving him a sexy smile before leaning forward giving him a few more teasing licks before taking him fully into his mouth. Will's head dropped back against the shower wall, one fist pounding against the wall while the other went to the back of Sonny's head, holding him there while his hips began to pump in rhythm. Sonny relaxed his throat, letting Will go at his own pace. His hands grabbed onto Will's hips, his fingers digging into the soft skin there. Above him Will was falling apart. He could tell Will was closer with every moan, every word he uttered. "Yessss" He hissed "That feels soo fucking good." Will's fingers had tightened in his hair until it was bordering on pain. "I'm gonna cum." He said suddenly trying to jerk away from Sonny… but Sonny held fast to his hips and hummed around him. The vibrations pushed Will over the fine line of his control, his seed burst from him pouring down Sonny's throat, and Sonny swallowed around him until Will's very bones felt like they were made of rubber. His hands found Sonny's shoulders using them to hold him up.

Sonny finally managed to make it off of the shower floor. His erection was rock hard, lying against his thigh. He had it figured out.. He took Will's hand and led him from the shower. Turning the water off and handing him a plush towel to dry off with. He dried off hurriedly and went into the bedroom. Will walked out of the bathroom to see Sonny practically ripping the spread from the bed. He tossed it to the floor. He crawled to the middle of the bed and lay on his back with his hands behind his head. He waited for Will to get the idea. The only way that he could see it working is for Will to be on top… so he would not accidentally hurt him. Will looked at him curiously, then understanding began to dawn in his eyes. "If you want it so bad… come on and get it." He teased, holding his hand out waiting for Will to take it.

Will did not need a second invitation. He crawled onto the bed and started at Sonny's ankles. He explored every inch of his legs, kissing, licking, nibbling on his skin. He worshipped him reverently. He took his time, until Sonny was writing beneath him. "Will… come on." He pleaded. Will smiled against his hip, kissing him there. Then took Sonny into his mouth, sucking him gently, meaning for it to only be a tease… he had other ideas for what he wanted to happen next. Sonny's hips bucked off of the bed, "Fuck… Will." He groaned, concentrating on not cuming… He grabbed Will, dragging him up his body.. "If you keep that up.." He said.. Will straddled him, "Oh no…I have other plans for you." He said. He leaned over and brushed their lips together, then kissed his chin, following his jaw line to his ear, licking the lobe, sucking it into his mouth. He bit down gently, teasing him. His lips continued their journey until they found his shoulder, kissing him, nibbling along his skin until he found his collar bone. His tongue slid over him there causing Sonny to shiver. Will recommitted every inch of his body to memory. He explored and tasted him everywhere. He found Sonny's nipples scraping his teeth over them, flicking his tongue against them drawing moan after moan from his throat. Sonny blindly reached behind him toward the beside table, groping for the handle of the drawer. Finally he had it and he jerked it open so hard that the drawer fell out and it along with all of the contents crashed to the floor. Will's head jerked up from his through exploration of Sonny's abdomen in surprise. They both collapsed in a fit of giggles. "My my my… someone's impatient." Will teased. Sonny rolled from under Will and reached over to the floor. He grabbed the closest bottle of lube and handed it to Will… "Yes, I am impatient, it's been plenty long enough so please just hurry the hell up!" he said rolling back to his back.

Will took the bottle and squeezed a generous amount into his hand. He coated his fingers and moved around to allow Sonny the best view, when he reached behind him and began to slowly open himself up. Sonny groaned watching him, Will was a sexy sight to behold even covered in bruises like he was. His jaw was slack, his eyes glazed over in pleasure, his chest was glistening with the fine sheen of sweat that covered his body. Despite having cum just a little earlier, his beautiful cock was hard and leaking again. A loud groan escaped him as he pushed a lone finger into his core, moving it in and out before adding another, he resisted the urge to curve his fingers to find his prostate. Finally when Sonny thought that he was going to cum, just watching Will, he crawled back over Sonny and squeezed more lube into his hand before he took hold of Sonny, coating him with the cool liquid.

Will guided Sonny to his entrance, easing down on him inch by agonizing inch, taking him into his scorching heat. He leaned down, kissing Sonny, licking into his mouth, wrapping Sonny's tongue up with his. He kissed him over and over until they had to come up for air. He placed his hands on Sonny's chest, his thumbs toying with his nipples. Will moving slowly up and down, allowing himself to slowly adjust to the feeling of being full of Sonny, before he really began to move, lifting himself off, gliding back down, again and again. Sonny reached behind him, grabbing onto the headboard of the bed, trying to remind himself that Will was in charge this time. Will rocked Sonny with his perfect slow rhythm until he was begging Will unintelligibility to give him the release he needed. Will added a small circular movement to his downward stroke and it pushed Sonny beyond his control. He grabbed Will and flipped them over, until Will's back was against the bed. Without breaking their contact he moved Will to the head of the bed and Sonny grabbed onto the headboard and began to pound into him. "Fuck YES!" Will said, spreading his legs further giving Sonny room. The fire had caught in his veins, he felt like he was burning from the inside out. He was on the verge of what he was sure was going to be the biggest orgasm of his life when Sonny slowed down the pace and it was Will's turn to beg for mercy. Will clamped his muscles down on Sonny, holding him tight and Sonny could not hold back anymore. He ground into Will steadily, grabbing ahold of his cock, pumping his fist up and down, until they were both shouting out their release, Will's cum spilling out over Sonny's hand, and he could feel Sonny filling him, his hips moving until he was completely spent. He lay over Will, giving him one more kiss before he pulled out and lay beside him, pulling him into his embrace. He pressed his lips against his temple. "I love you Will." He said softly. He held him until he was asleep. Only then did Sonny get up and get a warm wash cloth, cleaning Will and then himself before he grabbed the spread and pulled it over the two of them. He pulled Will close again and held him through the night.

Sonny and Will got off of the elevator and walked toward the conference room that had been the meeting room for the case. They were just about to walk in the door when they were stopped by Chief Morwessell. "Can I see you two for a minute?" He said motioning to his office. They both nodded and crossed the hall entering the office before him.

They sat down as he followed them in the room and closed the door. "First of all I wanted to say congratulations, that was some fine police work from both of you." He said. Will and Sonny both nodded, "Thanks." They said in unison. "I also wanted to fill you both in on a few things. First of all the city will be pursuing the indictment of Castleberry. We are going to have to go over everything with a fine toothed comb to find enough evidence, but we will find it... and even if we don't I want enough publicity on this to make sure that she never works as an attorney again. I am going to need you two on this, so turn in those uniforms, and I want you both to take the rest of the week off attorney and report back here Monday ready to get to work. Horton your desk will be adjacent to Kiriakis here... You two are officially partners and Jensen and Williams will remain partners." He said.

"Thank you sir." Will said sincerely. Chief Morwessell held his hand up, "No need for thanks, you earned it son. Kiriakis here is one of our finest detectives, and you two together are going to be unbeatable."

Will actually blushed, and Sonny grinned at him. "I hope that's true." Sonny said, "we really have become close." Chief Morwessell chuckled. It was his turn to blush... "I think we all know that." He teased."When we assigned you this 'punishment'" he continued, "It was to teach you a lesson, but I will be damned if you didn't teach us one instead." Sonny shook his head. "I didn't do anything out of the ordinary." He said. "We will have to agree to disagree on that point." Morwessell said. "The other thing that I wanted to let you know Is that I talked to the Assistant District Attorney who is the acting DA for the time being, and they have decided to charge Mark Bennett with involuntary manslaughter, and they are recommending that he serve his sentence at a psychiatric facility." He said.

"That's good." Sonny said, "I don't think he actually meant to kill Brittany... he just let Christopher talk him into a frenzy." Sonny said. "I agree," Chief Morwessell said. "And he also had traces of Ecstasy in his blood, though he denies doing any drugs, so that could have easily been added to his alcohol. You know that drug is some bad shit... it can make you do things thou would normally never do." Sonny and Will nodded again. "Anyway boys that's all I wanted to discuss, I will let you get to your reports."

"Thanks again Sir." Will said as they got up to leave the office. "See you boys next week." He said waving them out the door. They walked back across the hall... "Wow." Will said I never expected that to happen. "I did." Sonny said. "And I couldn't be happier or more proud of you."

"AWE shucks." Will said in a silly voice... Sonny burst out laughing, and Will grinned at him. "Seriously...Thank you." He said.

"Hey... good you two are here." Thredgill said. "We have a virtual mountain of paperwork to fill out." He began passing out report after report that they all needed to fill out. They all took a seat around the table and picked up a pen.

It was a few hours later when Detective Williams came into the room with evidence boxes and started taking down the wall of pictures, diagrams, and reports. He filed everything away in the boxes and stacked them up on the center table. "All they need are the copies of your final reports." He said I finished mine yesterday and also took one from Jensen. Thredgill nodded. "Thanks." He said. Detective Williams nodded and walked out the door.

They worked a little longer on the reports and then Agent Thredgill looked at his watch. "I think this should just about do it." He said, stacking up the paperwork in a neat pile. "I will drop it off by the Captains office before I leave." He ambled over to them. "I guess they will be sending me to Cincinatti tomorrow, they have a case down there they are having trouble with, But It was a real pleasure working with both of you. We made a good team." He said offering his hand to Sonny and then to Will. "I heard they are moving you to the detective division permanently." He said looking at Will like a proud papa. Will nodded, "Looks like it." He said embarrassed all over again. "Well, I can't think of anyone who deserves it more." He said sincerely. "Thanks again. That means alot coming from you." Will said quietly.

Detective Williams stuck his head back in the door. "Uhh Sonny, they just called and said that a Julian Bennett is upstairs in lock-up and asking to see you." Sonny nodded. "Thanks, I will head on up there." Will turned to look at Sonny. "What does he want with you?" He asked worriedly. Sonny shrugged, "I'm not sure but it's probably nothing." He said turning toward the door.

"Sonny, before you go..."Thredgill said. Sonny turned expectantly and waited for the other man to go on... "I know you and Will were both interested in Brittany Nicholas's little girl. Now that this is over we will be looking for a foster home to put her in, until the state decides what to do with her. I know you guys are still a new couple, but I also know how much you both care about what happens to her, do you have any interesting in fostering her for the time being?" Sonny looked over at Will, asking him the unspoken question. Had it been up to Sonny alone he would have already said yes. Will smiled and nodded at Sonny, he knew how important this was to Sonny and he loved kids too so it would be a win win. "Do you think they will let us?" Sonny asked. Agent Thredgill looked at him curiously.. "Sure... why wouldn't they?" He said confused. "Well with us being a Gay male couple and the child is a girl...Not to mention we aren't married... haven't even talked about anything like that." Sonny explained. "Ahh...tell you what, why don't you let me worry about that. I am talking about you two being foster parents, not adoption... unless of course you may be interested in that too." Thredgill said. "I happen to have a very good relationship with the Director of Child Protective Services, and I know I can convince them to give you guys a chance." Sonny nodded "Okay, just let us know what you find out." He said. Agen Threadgill nodded and waved as he walked out of the room.

"Will, I am going to go up and see what I can do for Mr. Bennett do you want to go with me, or you can stay here and wait for me." Sonny said. "I think I'll just wait here, I have a couple more things to finish up and a phone call to make." Will answered him. "Okay then see you in a bit." Sonny said... making him way out of the room.

Sonny exited the elevator on the prisoner holding floor and walkedover to the charge desk. "Hi, I was told there was a family member of a prisoner asking to see me up here, Kiriakis is the last name." The officer looked at him, "Yes sir, Jullian Bennett is the name he is in one of the interrogation rooms with Mark Bennett right now." He said." Good." Sonny said, as he took his weapon from the holster and handed it over. "Which room?" The officer consulted the log book. "Room 2" he said. Sonny nodded and walked past him. He knocked on the door and gave a brief pause before he walked into the room.

Julian Bennett got to his feet as Sonny entered. He immediately held his hand out. "Thank you for all that you did for my grandson detective." He said. "I wanted to say that in person, so thank you for taking the time to come."

Sonny brushed off his thanks, "All I did was make a couple calls, Thankfully Mark's well documented long mental health history helped him out. That and the fact that before that night, Mark hadn't seen Christopher for years." Julian nodded in agreement. "Yes and now he never has to see him again." Sonny wasn't quite sure what to say to that, so he remained quiet. Mark was virtually silent, he sat down in the chair wearing the look of a defeated man. Sonny put a hand on his shoulder. "I wish you luck Mark." He couldn't help but feel a little empathy for the man. He wasn't a cold blooded killer, if Sonny had any doubts about that, Mark's blood toxicology reports had laid them to rest. Despite his venomous denials that he used drugs his system had been full of drugs, and it was apparent that Christopher had used him as a pawn, a means to an end in his game.

Sonny turned back to the older man. "If I can do anything else for you, please let me know." Julian gave him a little wave. "Thanks again." He said and Sonny knew he meant it. He exited the room and turned to the guard at the door. "Give them all the time they need." He said. "Yes Sir." The guard replied.

Sonny hurried to the desk and collected his weapon. He was suddenly in a hurry to get to Will, and take him home. When he walked back into the conference room, Will had his cell phone to his ear and held up a finger indicating that he would be another minute. Sonny smiled and  
dropped into the chair beside him.

"Thanks Grandpa." Will said into the phone. "I know, maybe we can come down for a long weekend or something. I actually can't wait for you all to meet him. Alright talk to you soon.." He said before  
disconnecting the call. He looked at Sonny. "Everything okay?" he asked. Sonny nodded. "More than okay actually, I am just really ready to get home and start our mini vacation." He said. Will's eyes  
twinkled. "Lead the way hot stuff!" he said, linking his fingers with Sonny's.


	32. Chapter 32

"SONNY…. Come on." Will called out impatiently bouncing Willow in his arms. "We are going to be late for court if you don't get it in gear." Will groused.

"Keep your pants on, I'm coming already." Sonny called rushing through the house. "I couldn't find my cuff links." He said apologetically. He motioned for Will to go on out the door in front of him and he locked the door. Then he hurried around Will and opened the car door for him. Will deposited Willow into her car seat, she stared up at him quietly as he buckled her into the seat and then giggled when he kissed her on her chubby cheek before closing the door. He and Sonny slid into the front seats and Sonny started the car and backed out of the driveway. Butterflies were already taking flight in Will's stomach. "What do you think is going to happen?" Will asked hesitantly. Sonny shrugged, "I really don't know, I won't even try to guess, we have had her for almost six months now, and I don't know why they would want to take her from us now, but you never know."

"I still haven't figured out how Agent Threadgill cut through all that red tape so fast, it was crazy that one day he just showed up on your doorstep with a baby for us." Will said, and Sonny chuckled. "Ours Will… Our Door Step… you have been moved in a long time now, you should be used to be calling it our place." Will laughed. "I know, and I am but back then it WAS your place…" he stressed.

"That's a technicality and you know it." Sonny said, "You just hadn't moved your stuff in and let your apartment go. You do realize that you have not spent a night away from me since way before the case was over right?" he asked. "Not that I would have it any other way." He finished reaching over and grabbing Will's hand. "Fine." Will conceded. "You're right."

They chatted easily the rest of the way to the courthouse, trying to ward off the nervousness that threatened to consume them both. Once Sonny had parked the car in the high rise parking garage that was adjacent to the court house, they got out of the car and walked into the building, making their way through the line for the metal detectors and security check points. Then they took the elevator to the fifth floor, to the family court suite. They were right on time, with barely a minute to spare when they pushed through the double doors and walked up the aisle.

Sonny indicated that Will should take a seat in the chair behind the table on the left hand side of the room. There was plenty of room for the both of them since they had chosen for forgo an attorney for the moment. This particular court date was only for the judge to determine their eligibility to begin the adoption process. It was a little early but both of the child's biological parents were deceased, and Will and Sonny did not see the point in waiting around.

When they were settled at the table they turned around and were both surprised to see Stephen Threadgill sitting behind them. Sonny waved when he flashed them a confident smile. It was less than a minute later when the double doors opened again and a gorgeous brunette carrying a thick brief case walked through the door. She was practically gliding over the floor as she made her way to the table on the right side of the room. Sonny watched her intently as she laid the briefcase one the table and clicked it open withdrawing a legal pad from the inside.

The judges' chamber door opened and Judge Renee Haynes entered the courtroom, spurring the bailiff into action. "All Rise." He called, then waited as everyone in the room got to their feet. Once the judge was in her seat, the bailiff announced that they may all take their seats.

"Good Morning Ladies and Gentleman. It appears this morning we are here to determine the eligibility of Jackson Kiriakis and William Horton to apply for the legal adoption of the minor child, Willow Nicholas." She said examining the document in front of her. She slipped her bifocals from the end of her nose and laid them to the side on the desk. She glanced at Will who was holding the child tightly in his arms. "Is this the child in question?" She asked. Will nodded, "Yes your honor." He said respectfully.

The judge then turned her attention to the Brunette sitting at the opposite table. "Addison… I must admit that I am shocked to see you here today, to what do I owe the honor?" The brunette stood, "This is just a very important case." She said in way of explanation, I didn't see any reason to hand it off to anymore else, besides I wanted to make sure it is handled correctly.

Judge Haynes nodded. "Very well then. First of all I want to hear from Mr Kiriakis and Mr Horton, then I will hear what you have to say." She said directing her attention to Sonny. "Mr Kirakis… go right on ahead." She said, "I am very interested to see what you have to say.

Sonny stood up and wiped his sweaty hands down the legs of his jeans. "Your honor, in the sixth months that we have had Willow in our lives, we have learned to love and adore her. I know that I speak for both Will and myself when I say that we can't remember what our life was like without her. I know that this is a very unusual situation but we have bonded as a family, and while we may not always have the easiest life, there will always be love." He said, before sitting back down.

"I see." The judge said, "Mr. Horton, do you have anything to add before I give the floor over to the department of child protective services." Will shuffled to his feet and passed the clinging child to  
Sonny, before addressing the judge. "Only that Sonny… I mean, Jackson is absolutely right, we love each other, and we love Willow so much more than either he or I ever imagined that we could. She has brought so much to our lives and cemented our relationship in a way that nothing else ever could. She completed us, when we didn't even know we were missing anything. Please just give is a chance to give this baby a home with all the happiness that we can create. I can assure you that she will always have two loving fathers in her life." He finished and sat back down next to Sonny, praying that it was enough.

"Alright, I do have a couple of questions for the two of you before we proceed." Judge Haynes said. "Mr. Kiriakis, are you and Mr. Horton legally married?" She asked.

Sonny reached over and squeezed Will's hand. "Yes we are Your Honor." He answered. "Good… and for how long?" She asked. "Just over four months now." Sonny answered quietly. Surprise registered on her face for a moment, before she carefully schooled her features. "I see." She said, looking at the paper work in front of her. "And how long have you been in a committed relationship?" She pressed on. "About Eight months now." Sonny answered, praying silently that she wouldn't just throw out their request then and there. She nodded. "It says here that you are both detectives with the City of Chicago Police Department, specifically with the Special Victims Unit, is this information correct?" She asked. "Yes Ma'am." Will and Sonny answered together.

She sighed. "I am sure that at times you both have a grueling schedule and work extremely long hours, who cares for the child when you are unavailable?" Will nodded to Sonny indicating that he should answer the question. "We have hired a live in nanny for her, Mrs. Wakefield moved into the newly added mother in law suite at our home about five months ago." Judge Haney nodded. "And this seems to be working out?" She asked. "Yes." Sonny answered simply.

"And how many times in the last month would you say that you have had a meal as a family, meaning the two of you and the child?" The judge asked. Will cleared his throat. "I'm not sure, Your Honor, Will said but nearly every night and most mornings for breakfast as well. We have been working very hard to give her a sense of stability and normalcy. Sometimes, we have to split up and one of us goes home while the other takes care of a work issue but we try to make it work as seamlessly as possible. There is no way to paint a perfect picture of our lives, because we are not perfect, we make mistakes, we had a hard time in the beginning juggling our schedules around, but we learned. We have been lucky that we haven't had a huge case that has taken every free minute that we have, but I am sure one day that is going to happen and when it does we will make it work somehow. There are many other officers that have children, even some single fathers or mothers… and they get by, we will too."

Judge Haynes motioned that he should sit, and Will was surprised to see that he was on his feet and pacing absently while he talked. He took a seat sheepishly. "I must say that you are two very determined young men, and it sure looks like Willow loves the two of you as much as you love her." She said before turning her attention to the brunette at the adjacent table.

"Alright Addison, let's hear what you have to say." The judge said.

"Thank you Your Honor." She began, "I came here today to say that I personally have been to Mr. Kiriakis and Mr. Horton's home and that I was very impressed with Mrs. Wakefield. Jackson and William are the only foster parents that young Willow has known, she was released into their custody as soon as we were able to obtain confirmation that both of her birth parents are deceased. We did manage to track down all 4 sets of grandparents and two sets are deceased, neither of the remaining two showed any interest in the wellbeing or the future of the child. In addition Jackson and William have made any and all provisions necessary for the child, they have showered her with love and attention. At this time the state sees no reason why they should not be granted permission to pursue a legal and permanent adoption. She said.

Sonny and Will both breathed a little easier after she took her seat. "Thank you." Judge Hayes said, "You have all given me a lot of information, and normally I would take a few days to deliberate, but in this particular matter, I feel like we can proceed. It is certainly for a female minor child to be placed in a foster home in the care of a Male/Male couple, I have to tell you that when this case came across my desk, it seemed an easy decision to me. Please understand when I tell you that your sexual orientation would have had little to no bearing on the decision, other than to say it is my opinion that children of same sex marriages have a harder life and are ridiculed more than the children of heterosexual couples, and to be honest I wasn't completely convinced on the idea of putting a child who is not old enough to contribute their opinion, into that situation. Now that I see you both with the child and the obvious love between you, I see that I was borrowing trouble where there is none. She seems to be completely content, if the sparkle in her eyes and the ease of her smile are any indication, that coupled with the glowing recommendation that you received from the director of the Department of Child Protective Services makes my decision an easy one. I cannot think of anything that would make more sense, it is the order of this court that that you be allowed to file for immediate and permanent custody of Willow Nicholas. I will see you all again very soon, it seems." She finished, and banged the gavel against her mahogany desk. "Have a good day Ladies and Gentleman."

They got up and filed out of the courtroom, noticing that Agent Threadgill was already down the hall, speaking with someone that neither of them recognized. They made their way out of the courthouse and was almost to the car when they heard him behind them. "Hey… wait up guys." He called. "Sorry I was trying to make it back to you before you got out here, but I got held up. I wanted to say congratulations!" He said, shaking both of their hands. "Hey there precious." He said tousling Willows hair. "Thanks." Will and Sonny said together. The door opened again and the Brunette from the court room walked up. "Gentleman, I would like for you both to meet my wife, Addison Threadgill." He said, as he slid his arm around her. Sonny cackled out loud. "WOW." He said. "No wonder you said you had a good relationship with the head of the department." He stuck his hand out to her. "Very Nice to meet you, and thank you so much for what you said in there." "Likewise.." she said "I have heard amazing things about both of you." She said. "Hey! You two live over on the west side right? Let's all go to that new Pizza place with all of the games and fun stuff… what's the name of it? Fliesher's or something right? We can celebrate. We can bring our son and we will make it a real party." Sonny nodded, that sounds amazing he said. "We are headed to go and get ice cream right now…" Threadgill laughed "For breakfast?" he asked. "Yep! This is going to be a celebration all day long." Will said. "Ice Ceam!" Came a small excited voice from Will's arms, prompting more laughter. "See you all tonight!" they said waving as they walked to their car.

As Sonny drove them to the ice cream parlor he marveled at how much Willow had come out of her shell in the last few months. When she had come to live with them she had been quiet and reserved and barley said a word. Will and Sonny had visited her home before it had been cleared out by the landlord. They had packed up all of the pictures of Brittany and Willow together, and all the baby pictures that they could find. They had painstakingly chose the most worn looking stuffed animals, blankets, and most of the clothes that would fit her and taken it all back to their house. Will had even managed to find the rabbit that she held in most of the pictures, it was still in the back seat of the truck that Brittany had strapped her into the night she had been killed. They hung the best pictures of Brittany holding Willow in the nursery and they talked of Brittany often, they didn't know much, only that she had loved her daughter and that she had died trying to protect her. When she asked for "Mama" which she had done a lot in the beginning, they showed her the picture, and they had decided that when she was older they would tell her more.

Will looked over to see Sonny completely lost in thought. He pushed his shoulder. "What are you thinking so hard about?" He asked. Sonny shrugged, "Just how much I love you and our baby girl. I can't wait till she is officially ours." He said.

"Me too!" Will said as Sonny pulled into the parking lot. Willow saw the sign on the window and started to clap… "Yay! Ice Ceam!" She sang happily. Will turned and grinned at her. "That's right baby girl.. Ice Cream, what flavor does my princess want?" He asked. She considered his question thoughtfully before shouting "Stawberry!" Will chuckled.. "Alright Strawberry it is! Let's go." He got out and reached in the back seat to unbuckle her before passing her off to Sonny, who promptly swung her around in the air making her giggle.

Later that evening as they were about to walk out the door to go and meet everyone for the celebration, Sonny's phone rang… He looked at the caller ID… "It's the station." He said before answering. "Kiriakis…" Will was quiet while Sonny listened to whomever was on the other end of the call. "Yes, I see.." He said, "No, of course tell them Will and I will be glad to help them out, but we can not get there till tomorrow." He said, motioning for Will to go on out the door, he followed him out and locked the door. "Yeah it is family celebration night tonight, It will have to be tomorrow." He disconnected the call and dropped the phone into his pants pocket. "What was that about?" Will asked as he put Willow into her car seat again.

"That case they picked up last week, remember the victim from the mayor's office?" Sonny asked. "Yeah." Will said. "That young receptionist right?" Sonny nodded, "That's the one.. They are asking if we can conduct some interviews for them, and assist on the case… so it appears that we may be working with a certain FBI agent again."

"WOW." Will said, "I knew the quiet couldn't last forever but damn…" "Yes… but we will deal with it tomorrow, tonight we celebrate!" Sonny said. "Let's go party then!" Will said


	33. Chapter 33

Hey guys and gals! Just wanted to take a minute to say thank you for reading my story .. This is the end of this particular story. As you all proba ly see, I did leave room for a sequel. The wedding I am sure, you are all wondering about. To fit in with the timeline... I had to just skim by it... In my mind I see it clearly.. and it could happen in a flashback ;-) If you guys are interested in reading more... If you have fallen in love with This version of Will and Sonny as much as I have, let me know. If there is enough interest I will continue with another installment. Tonya!


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